Sheikh Dr. Abullatif Bin Abdulaziz Al-Sheikh, Minister of Islamic Affairs, Call and Guidance, issued a notification on Sunday to all of the ministry's departments in the Kingdom's regions, requesting mosque staff to limit the use of exterior loudspeakers to summoning the faithful to prayer (Adhan) and Iqamat-ul-salah (the second call for brethren prayer).

The frequency must not be greater than one-third of the total volume of the loudspeakers. The minister cautioned that anyone who violated the circular would face retaliatory measures.

This directive, issued by the minister on Monday, follows the ministry's discovery that outdoor loudspeakers are being utilized amid prayer services. This affects patients, the elderly, and children who live in residences near mosques.

Furthermore, mosque imams meddle with recitations and ceremonies. This generates discomfort among mosque attendees and inhabitants of residences near mosques (particularly on the sequence of rites?).

The directive is also founded on Shariah proof, the most essential of which is the Prophet's statement that all devotees are praying and submissive to Allah Almighty, and so they should not harm or disturb one another by reciting loudly during prayer.

This complies with the jurisprudential (Fiqhi) precept, "Do not harm others, and therefore do not permit others to harm you."

The reason for this is because the imam's voice during prayer should be audible to everyone within the mosque, but there is no need for the imam's voice to be heard in the nearby houses outside, as per Shariah.

When the Holy Qur'an is chanted loudly through external loudspeakers but no one is hearing it or understanding its verses, it is disrespecting it.

The directive also conforms to the late religious scholar Sheikh Muhammad Bin Saleh Al-(May Othaimeen's Allah have compassion on his soul) religious injunction (fatwa) that outside loudspeakers must not be used except for Adhan and Iqamat-ul-salah.

The directive is also centered on the fatwa declared by Dr. Saleh Al-Fowzan, a member of the Council of Senior Experts and a member of the Permanent Committee, and numerous other religious authorities.