DUBAI (AlArabiya.net)
Egyptian Minister of Religious Endowments (Awqaf) Mahmoud Hamdi Zaqzouq sought to put an end to the controversy surrounding implementation of the unified adhan (call for prayers), declaring the move will be applied as of next spring, according to press reports Sunday.
Zaqzouq reiterated that his ministry will stick to its plan that seeks a unified adhan and will start applying it in Greater Cairo with the exception of some districts on the outskirts of the city, he told Egyptian opposition daily al-Wafd.
According to Zaqzouq, the project will not cost more than 680,000 pounds (123,000 dollars) and will be implemented in cooperation with Greater Cairo Radio, from which the call for prayers will be broadcast.
The Arab Organization for Industrialization will supply the technical equipment for the project.
Zaqzouq added that the project aims at eliminating the cacophony of overlapping adhans and "microphone wars" which violate the sacredness of such a ritual that is originally supposed to tell people about prayer times.
Zaqzouq denied that any of the Greater Cairo moazens (adhan reciters) will be dismissed.
"They will be retrained at the ministry and will be in charge of leading prayers," the minister said.
Zaqzouq stated last month that the much-debated project was to be applied in December.
The two-year-old plan of the Awqaf ministry is meant to quiet the cacophony of 4,500 government mosques announcing the call to prayer over loudspeakers at a slightly different time.
(Translated from Arabic by Sonia Farid). |
