In May 2021, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Islamic Affairs issued an order to lower the volume of mosque loudspeakers and use them only for calls to prayer, rather than to broadcast full sermons. Faced with a conservative backlash, the minister explained that the decision was in response to complaints from citizens.
In Turkey, the coverage of this news caused some excitement. Many Turkish citizens also complain, albeit timidly and unsuccessfully, about the high volume of the ezan (call to prayer) issuing from numerous mosques in each neighbourhood. It seems highly unlikely, however, that formal complaints through bureaucratic channels would achieve anything, given the political and ideological sensitivity of the matter.
National unity was achieved through religious homogenisation in Turkey. A popular nationalist slogan that long predates the Islamist rule of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) declares: “The flag will never be lowered and the ezan will never be silenced.”
