A video showing footage from a news segment from media channel WION has gone viral across social media, claiming that the Saudi Arabian government has banned loudspeakers across the country. The video is going viral with claims quoting the Saudi Arabian government that the call to the mosque is unnecessary for devoted Muslims.
Claim:
In the news segment by WION, anchor Palki Sharma says, "There are at least 94,000 mosques in Saudi Arabia, and most of them are within walking distance of residential buildings. The Islamic Ministry of Affairs said that the loud volume of these loudspeakers was causing disturbance to children and the elderly….This is a major policy overhaul for a country which is home to two of the holiest sites in Islam. A country which is seen as a de facto leader of the Islamic leader."
The anchor goes on to list the Saudi Arabian government's defence of the order.
While sharing the video across social media, users commented, "Saudi Arabia banned the installation of loudspeakers in mosques - and said that those who believe in religion do not need the Imam to call from them from the mosque ... They should be present in the mosque without being called at the time of prayer: by order of the Saudi Arabian government."
Another user, @rajeshkotabjp, shared the video saying, "Saudi Arabia has banned the use of loudspeakers in 94,000 mosques and said that those who want to offer Namaz, what is the need for the Imam to call them from the Masjid...This ban by Saudi Arabia is a historic decision."
It is being widely shared on Facebook and Twitter with a similar claim.
Fact Check:
The Logical Indian fact-check team verified the viral claim and found it misleading. The country had issued a circular restricting the volumes of the loudspeakers in mosques.
We went through the viral video, and towards the end, the ticker at the bottom reads, 'Riyadh imposes 'Volume Limit' on Mosques, which indicated that the report wasn't connected to a ban on loudspeakers.
Notably, the viral video shows Palki Sharma mentioning that there is a set of people who say that loudspeakers at mosques should be banned entirely and that there is a set of people appealing for the complete removal of loudspeakers from all religious places.
We conducted a keyword search for the video report by WION News which is seen in the viral video. We came across the video report uploaded on WION's YouTube channel on June 1, 2021, titled, 'Gravitas: Saudi Arabia restricts loudspeakers at mosques.' As the title indicates, the video is regarding a debate on Saudi Arabia restricting the volume of loudspeakers at mosques. From the 0.51 mark in the video report, the footage in the viral video can be seen.
In the report, the anchor, Palki Sharma, notes that the Saudi Arabian government had restricted the volume limit of mosques in the country. The opening comments by Sharma note, "Saudi Arabia has decided to restrict the volume of loudspeakers at mosques, and this decision has been met with both applause and resentment."
The report also noted that the Islamic Ministry of Saudi Arabia passed an order to restrict the volume of loudspeakers to 1/3rd of the maximum volume and to use loudspeakers only for the call of prayer. The WION report did not mention that the Saudi Arabian government had banned loudspeakers.
We then came across a report by Al Jazeera published on June 1, 2021, titled, 'Saudi minister defends volume limit on mosque loudspeakers.
The report noted that Saudi Arabia's Islamic affairs minister defended the order restricting the volume of mosque loudspeakers based on complaints about excessive noise. The Islamic affairs ministry had directed the volume of speakers to be set at not more than one-third of their maximum volume, the Al Jazeera report noted. As per Al Jazeera, the order also restricted the use of loudspeakers solely to broadcast the call to prayer rather than full sermons. "Islamic Affairs Minister Abdullatif al-Sheikh said on Monday the order was in response to citizens' complaints that the loud volume was disturbing children as well as the elderly," the report said.
We also came across a Reuters report titled, 'Saudi minister defends order to turn down the volume on mosques' published on May 31, 2021. The Reuters report quotes the Islamic Affairs Ministry, which stated that loudspeakers in mosques should be set at a third of their maximum volume. The Ministry had dictated that speakers should be used to broadcast the call to pray and then should then be switched off instead of broadcasting the full prayers and sermons.
The Reuters report noted that as per Islamic Affairs Minister Abdullatif al-Sheikh said the changes were due to complaints from the public over excessive volume. Reportedly, the elderly and parents whose children had complained that their sleep was being disrupted. "Those who want to pray don't need to wait for ... the imam's voice. They should be at the mosque beforehand," al-Sheikh is reportedly quoted as saying.
We conducted a keyword search for the tweets seen in the WION report and came across a Twitter thread published on May 23, 2021, by the verified Twitter handle of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs.
"His Excellency the Minister of Islamic Affairs, Abdullatif al-Sheikh in a circular to all branches of the Ministry instructs mosque employees to limit the use of external loudspeakers to the call to prayer and iqama only. The loudness level of the devices is not to exceed one-third of the level of the loudspeaker device, and legal action will be taken against those who violate it."
We also came across another tweet in the thread where the Islamic Affairs Minister is quoted as saying, "Conveying the voice of the imam during prayer is specific to those inside the mosque, and there is no legal need for it to be conveyed to those in the homes, in addition to the disrespect for the Holy Quran when it is read and not listened to…"
Conclusion:
We found that Saudi Arabia had issued a circular restricting the volume of loudspeakers in mosques. Citing complaints by the elderly and parents, the Ministry of Islamic Affairs decided to lower the volume of loudspeakers and restrict their usage to the call for prayers. The events also took place in June 2021 and are not recent. Thus, we can conclude that the viral claims that Saudi Arabia banned the use of loudspeakers are misleading.
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