Ringtones that feature verses from the Qur’an and call to prayer were disapproved by a senior Sunni authority this week, reports Meedan.
The increasingly popular Qur’an-based ringtones have been disavowed by a fatwa (Islamic declaration) according to the Egyptian daily Al Youm Al Sabie.
The daily quoted the Muslim Mufti Ali Gomaa saying
By using Quran verses as ringtones we undermine this legitimacy and limit it to a phone call. Quranic verses are interrupted and meanings are often truncated when the reciting stop as we answer the phone call.
While Saudi religious scholars have also found these ringtones inappropriate, this is the first time that it has been made official.
With different countries and sects following different fatwas, we’ll have to see what the other sheikhs have to say about this.
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What we also have to wait for is what the new ringtone trend is going to be as the 57 million Egyptian mobile-user market has suddenly become a great opportunity for a new genre in ringtones.
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