They have also been asked not to raise sound levels while conducting a prayer.
Indonesia's Ministry of Religious Affairs has issued a circular on Adhan, with guidelines on when and how it ought to be broadcast by mosques across the country, amid an outcry over the jailing of a woman who had griped about adhan volumes to a neighbor.
Titled "The use of loudspeakers in Mosques, Langgar, and Musholla", the circular released on Friday (Aug 24) urges religious institutions to follow the instructions of the director-general of Muslim guidance, Tempo news portal reported on Saturday (Aug 25). Langgar and Musholla are terms used in Indonesia for Muslim prayer houses.
The woman, named Meliana, complained to her neighbor in 2016 about the volume of Adhan being broadcast by a mosque near her home in northern Sumatra.
But the neighbor told others about it and soon rumor had it that Meliana was trying to ban Adhan.
The resulting outrage led to a rampage by Muslims on several Buddhist temples in what is believed to be the worst bout of anti-Chinese violence in the country since 1998.
After Meliana was sentenced on Tuesday (Aug 28), civil society groups and lawyers denounced the verdict as excessive and silly.
The two biggest Muslim organizations in the country, Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, also questioned the use of the blasphemy charge against the woman.
The religious affairs ministry's instructions on Adhan runs over six points according to Tempo:
Source: The Star, Malaysia