KRG introduces system to synchronize Azan across mosques

ERBIL — The Kurdistan Regional Government has introduced a new system aimed at synchronizing the Azan (Muslim call to prayer) across all mosques within its cities and towns to eliminate delays and discrepancies in prayer times. Despite the ambitious goal, officials acknowledge the challenges ahead. “The unified call to prayer is broadcast live from one mosque and transmitted through special devices to a system that relays it to all mosques,” Abdullah Sherkawei, a spokesperson for the Fatwa Committee of the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs in the Kurdistan Region, told 964Media. He noted that full implementation “will require some time.”

Currently, the Kurdistan Region boasts over 6,000 mosques, with the new system already operational in Erbil. Here, a melodious-voiced imam delivers the call to prayer live from the Sawaf Mosque, which is then transmitted via radio waves to other mosques in the area.

“The system has been successful within Erbil city, where a unified Azan can now be heard across all mosques without delay,” explained Tayeb Zirar Sherwani, Director General of Endowments for the Erbil Governorate. He elaborated on the specific benefits of the system, stating, “The system addresses specific issues, such as ensuring the Azan is recited by someone with a pleasing voice with Kurdish rhythm, and eliminating delays in the call to prayer between different mosques. The centralized recitation will be heard uniformly across various locations.”

Sherwani also assured that “the system would soon be implemented in Sulaimaniyah and Duhok.”

In a previous attempt in 2019, the ministry explored introducing an digital Azan system, where a pre-recorded voice would recite the call to prayer instead of a live recitation at each individual mosque. However, this initiative faced significant criticism for potentially conflicting with Islamic Sharia law and diminishing the spiritual essence of the Azan, leading to its abandonment.