Ghana urges mosques use WhatsApp for call to prayer
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fadama community mosque imam sheik usan ahmed calls muslims to prayer five times at prescribed times throughout the day. although he agrees that the level of noise could be reduced relying on text and whatsapp messages could also have economic implications he told dw1 in ghana mosques and churches are seen to be compounding the problem of noise pollution according to a report by deutsche welle1 mosques are being asked to use mobile text or whatsapp messages to call the muslim community to prayer1 why is it that time for prayer cannot be transmitted with text message or whatsapp so the imam would send whatsapp messages to everybody said environment minister kwabena frimpong-boateng1 i think that will help to reduce the noise. this may be controversial but its something that we can think about he told dw1 the government says it is hopeful such a change could contribute to a reduction in excessive noise1 for many muslims living in the capital the idea of a mobile call to prayer is more difficult to embrace1 in the capital accra authorities are seeking to deal with the noise caused by these places of worship and mosques in particular1 the imam is not paid monthly. where would he get the money to be doing that we try to practice what is possible. so the text message or any other message is not a problem. but i dont think it is necessary ahmed said1 other muslim residents who spoke to dw also rejected the suggestion. i dont find anything wrong with muslims waking up at dawn and using the megaphone to call their people to come worship their god because we have christian churches who use megaphones as well and they also preach at dawn said nora nsiah1 another accra resident kevin pratt also dismissed frimpong-boatengs suggestion not everyone is on social media and not everyone is as literate as he is. the muslim call to prayer is traditionally supposed to reach as far as possible habiba ali added1 the government has signalled it ultimately intends to enforce laws in order to quiet things down in ghana1 the world health organization who has long warned of the harmful impact exposure to environmental noise may have on public health1 it lists cardiovascular disease sleep disturbances and cognitive impairment among some of the short and long-term problems people could develop1