During Ramadan, many fasting Muslims wake up early in the morning so they can have the sahur (pre-dawn meal, the last meal they can have until dusk) before the dawn call to prayer, which in Jakarta comes at around 4:30am. As such, many mosques often blare out Quran recitals or wake up calls over their loudspeakers to wake people up around their neighborhoods long before the call to prayer.

But in East Borneo, the Indonesia Ulema Council (MUI), has asked mosques not to be so loud early in the morning as it’s against the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad.

“MUI East Borneo advises that during Ramadan, the use of the loudspeaker should only be 15 minutes before and after the call to prayer. Sometimes there are those who use it at 4am, whereas the dawn call to prayer is at 5am. That’s clearly disruptive to residents around [the mosque],” said MUI East Borneo Chairman Hamri Haz, as quoted by JPNN on Saturday.

Hamri added that there’s nothing wrong with people who want to worship in the mosque, such as by reciting the Quran, that early in the morning. However, he believes that doing so over the loudspeaker so early in the morning could be bothersome to those who aren’t fasting or those who aren’t Muslim.

“Please worship God but don’t get to the point of disturbing others. That’s not a virtue, even the prophet [Muhammad] forbade it,” he said.

The MUI has not made the same plea nationwide.

A version of this article is available in Bahasa Indonesia at our sister site Coconuts Indonesia.

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