Indonesia seeks to quieten mosques

Indonesia has set up a team to investigate complaints that its mosques are too noisy.

Hussein Abdullah, vice president of the country's mosque council, told the BBC the team gathered samples of noise from places of worship in about 10 cities.

They found loudspeaker volumes set too high, the call to prayer broadcast at different times and sermons at hours there shouldn't be any, he said.

There are approximately 800,000 mosques in the country.

They become particularly active during the holy month of Ramadan, which began in mid-June.

Abdullah said part of the problem was that mosques were competing with one another at such loud volumes that "Muslims couldn't focus on what was being broadcast".

He said the authorities would appeal to mosques to ensure they were only heard in their immediate area and not beyond.

"They should agree on the time and duration. Say for the morning there's a prayer for 5 to 7 minutes, then the call to prayer. That's enough. Don't broadcast a prayer loudly from 4 o'clock in the morning," he said.

The new team would complement a previous initiative, which saw around 100 groups of technicians deployed across the country to help fine-tune mosque loudspeakers and give advice on how best to arrange speakers to reduce noise, the AFP news agency reported.

"This is not to limit the freedom to pray. We just want to manage the noise, so the sound that comes out of mosques is more harmonious and soothing and people can pray better," Abdullah said.