Al-Jazirah One of the companions of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) saw in a dream how prayer should be called. Prophet Muhammad ordered him to explain to Bilal the dream and how the call to prayer should be done, because the latter had a more beautiful voice. Those giving the call to prayer, known as muezzins, should have attractive voices. In fact, it is a must. However, it is surprising that the voices some muezzins are far from beautiful. These men need to enroll in a course to improve their voice and learn the rules of sound. The same holds true for mosque imams. The Kingdom needs to establish an institute to train imams how to deliver a speech, and to teach muezzins how to improve their voices when they call for prayer. Mosques imams do not need to shout when they deliver the Friday speech. On the contrary, they need to be calm and their voice should be convincing. I suggest that mosques that are close to one another in the same neighborhood should reduce the sound of loudspeakers so that the voices of muezzins do not compete and clash. In the past, the people of the Najd region used to view loudspeakers as an invention that should not be used at mosques. They only agreed to use loudspeakers after a fatwa was issued permitting the use of loudspeakers. I do not know why those who say loudspeakers at mosques should be turned down are accused of compromising their religion. They are portrayed as people who do not care about following the rules of religion. The Ministry of Islamic Affairs requires anyone who wants to build a mosque to build an annex for the imam and the muezzin, and to pay them monthly salaries. Why doesn't the ministry, if it is permissible in Islam, consider using audio technology for the call to prayer? There is no longer any need for the human factor to be involved. The times of prayer can be set automatically, and the prayer call can be played for each city at the correct time. I think it is a good idea, and at least it is better than those imams who use expatriate workers who do not speak good Arabic to give the call to prayer. The real catastrophe is that some imams even let these workers lead prayer when they do not have the slightest idea about the recitation rules for the Holy Qur'an.
