Wa Laa Tajhar Bi Salatika - And (do) not be loud in your SALAT

This is from Free Malaysia Today. Meliana, 44 yrs old, a non Muslim woman in Medan, Indonesia had complained to her Muslim neighbour that a mosque nearby was too loud. The neighbours took offense. Soon mobs attacked and burnt down Buddhist temples and other non Muslim owned places around Medan. This happened a few days ago.

To make matters worse the complaining woman was sentenced to 1 1/2 years in jail for "insulting Islam".   Fortunately a number of Indonesian Muslim NGOs, lawyers, the Nadhlatul Ulama association and the Muhammadiyah folks came to the woman's defense. 

As a result the Indonesian government has introduced "official guidelines" to mosques so that they control the volume of their loudspeakers. 

Here is the news:

PJ : Kementerian Agama Indonesia terbitkan garis panduan 6 perkara 
mengatur penggunaan pembesar suara bagi menghindari kebencian terhadap masjid

Garis panduan terbit selepas wanita bukan Islam dikenakan 1 1/2 tahun penjara 
selepas mengadu suara azan yang terlalu keras daripada masjid depan rumah

pembesar suara harus menghindari suara bising atau dengung 
yang dapat menimbulkan kebencian orang

pembesar suara "tidak terlalu tinggi, sumbang atau terlalu kecil”.

untuk menghindari anggapan tidak tertibnya masjid
jauh dari menimbulkan rasa cinta dan simpati 
selain menjengkelkan menurut laporan itu

• Perkara lain ialah suara doa, zikir dan solat tidak boleh terlalu tinggi
• suara selain azan tidak disiarkan ketika orang mungkin tidur, beristirahat 
• suara azan boleh tinggi tetapi mesti “enak, merdu dan syahdu”
• bacaan Al-Quran disiarkan 15 minit sebelum waktu solat 
• bacaan solat dan kuliah hanya boleh menggunakan pembesar suara dalam masjid

Kes bermula apabila mengadu tentang azan yang keras daripada masjid 

sekelompok masyarakat menuduh wanita itu menghina Islam 
lalu timbul kekacauan dan perosakan terhadap kuil Buddha

Nahdlatul Ulama, Muhammadiyah soalkan pertuduhan terhadap wanita itu

This issue is not unique to Indonesia. We have the same issue in Malaysia. Non Muslims (and some Muslims too) find very loud sermons, speeches, recitations, prayers etc often coming out at odd hours of the day and night from mosques and suraus interrupting their peace and quiet.

Decades ago I recall my young son would wake up crying from his sleep when the surau nearby began their loud recitations very early in the morning. A friend of mine (a Malay Muslim woman) wrote a letter to the mosque close to her house pleading that they reduce the volume of the loudspeakers.

The problem gets compounded when the complainant is a non Muslim. Some people take it as an insult against Islam. In Medan it has resulted in mob attacks against Buddhists (aka Chinese in Indonesia).   

For the information of Muslims as well as non Muslims here is a verse from the Quran that should serve as a guide and a lesson about being too loud in your salat : 

Another translation :

Surah 17:110 Say, "Call upon Allah or upon the Most Merciful. Whatever you call, to Him (belongs) the Most Beautiful Names. And (do) not be loud in your prayers (SALAT) and not be silent therein, but seek between that a way."

And (do) not be loud in your prayers (SALAT) : wa laa tajhar bi-salatika

So do not be too loud in your salat and neither be too soft but seek a middle path in between.

I think this can be magnified to encompass all prayers, recitations and such. Do not be too loud as to disturb your neighbours. No need to be too soft but seek a moderate path in between.

This problem did not rise before the kafirs like the Japanese, Chinese, Germans etc invented their loudspeakers. 

During the time of the Prophet there were no loudspeakers.  

Such things should be a given - meaning there should not be complaints from people, mobs attacking Buddhist temples (in retaliation??) etc before the Indonesian government has to step in and issue official guidelines.

In countries like Germany (from what I read before)  ALL religious places of worship of ALL religions should make sure that their prayers, recitations, sermons, church bells etc are only heard within their premises. It should not disturb the environment outside their premises.

The other problem is in some countries this issue is also complicated by multi racial and multi religious issues. If the complainant is of another race, skin colour, religon, language group etc then the issue gets blown out of proportion.

"We are the majority, Islam is the official religion, Islam is the religion of the majority so you have no right to complain".

This is not correct and it is not a good thing either. It does not make you a good neighbour and worse it does not make Islam look attractive to others.

As the report from Indonesia says:

• untuk menghindari anggapan tidak tertibnya masjid
• jauh dari menimbulkan rasa cinta dan simpati 
• selain menjengkelkan menurut laporan itu

To my fellow Muslims, just stick to the Quran and the whole world will love you. Just follow the Quran and all human beings will want to be your neighbours. 

And (do) not be loud in your prayers (SALAT) : wa laa tajhar bi-salatika