Why did Bin Salman’s reforms affect the call to prayer in mosques?
The Saudi Minister of Islamic Affairs has directed mosques to only use loudspeakers for Azan (the call to prayer) and the Iqamat (which is the second call for communal prayer).
Saudi Arabia’s Islamic affairs minister is defending a contentious order restricting the volume of mosque loudspeakers, saying it was prompted by complaints about excessive noise.
In a major policy last week in a country home to the holiest Muslim sites, the Islamic affairs ministry said the speakers should be set at no more than one-third of their maximum volume.
The order, which also limited the use of loudspeakers mainly to issue the call to prayer rather than broadcasting full sermons, triggered a conservative backlash on social media.
Although apparently, this Saudi action, as the Saudi Minister of Islamic Affairs says, was done at the request of the people, the acceptance of it by the Wahhabis as the guardians of the ruling ideology of Saudi Arabia seems to be worth considering. In fact, this movement apparently has a deep political religion, with the aim of attracting the hearts of the youth to Ibn Salman, and it is part of the formal reforms of Bin Salman.
The fact that al-Sheikh is gradually saying goodbye to the teachings of Wahhabism and allowing women to drive, contrary to his former so-called religious view, the next day distances himself from previous sensitivities about the presence of infidels in the land of revelation. The third day turns a blind eye to Western dancers and clubs, which means that the Wahhabi and Al-Sheikh ideologies have not only surrendered to Al-Saud’s policies but have become a factor in justifying bin Salman’s policies.
In light of the adoption and intensification of such reformist policies, the main question is to what extent this duality of religion and politics in Saudi Arabia can accompany the bin Salman reform project? How resilient is it? And basically, by weakening and eliminating the ideology of Wahhabism and denying what is called and introduced the historical legitimacy of Al-Saud, can we find out in the not-too-distant future a government called Saudi Arabia under Al-Saud? We have to wait and see, of course, if the Yemenis do not figure out the expected future in any other way!
