I stayed recently in a small, very quiet village. Apart from the sounds of cocks proclaiming themselves to the world and a rare, muffled roar of a vehicle, there was really very little noise morning and night. 

The only things that shattered the silence were the muezzin calling the faithful to prayer and then conducting the prayer, and two born-again churches telling us to repent in gravelly voices.

Now, I have nothing against muezzins and preachers, but what I don’t understand is why they have to use massive loudspeakers which can be heard more than a kilometre away. Why do those of us who do not belong to their particular denominations have to tolerate the invasion of the peace and quiet of our homes with no recourse?

It took me back to a visit I made to Arba Minch in Ethiopia when my room was invaded by the muezzin and a Christian sermon every day from about three o’clock in the morning, chasing away all sleep. 

When I asked about it, and expressed my amazement that the leaders of both religions could awake so piously every day, I was informed that all they did was switch on the loudspeakers and, in those days, put a cassette player next to a microphone. 

READ MORE: Noise Pollution Is Affecting Our Health. Here’s How We Can Fix It 

They then went back to sleep (maybe using earplugs) while the whole community had to contend with these extremely loud professions of faith from both these religions.

Restrictions

By contrast, when I went to a certain Arab country recently, I was surprised that, although there were mosques everywhere, I hardly heard the muezzins at all. When I asked about it, I was told that several Muslim countries place restrictions on the use of loudspeakers. 

For example, there are restrictions on the volume allowed while, in other cases, regulations allow the use of an external loudspeaker to broadcast the call to prayer, but the prayers themselves should only use an internal loudspeaker.

This seemed to me to be a very reasonable series of compromises, not interfering with freedom of religion but also allowing freedom from religion, not forcing others to participate in your own religious practices, which can cause the opposite of the desired effect. I believe the same sets of compromises should be imposed on all other religions as well.

A secular society?

However, it does not stop here. We are told that Tanzania is a secular society, but more and more in non-religious gatherings, we are being told to pray together at the beginning and end of each day or even each session. I have two objections to this.

READ MORE: In a Landmark Ruling, High Court of Tanzania Strikes Down State-Imposed Religious Authority

The first one is that usually there is only one prayer, that of the majority of participants, while the prayer of the minority is disregarded. Tanzanians are a very tolerant people, so no fuss is made about this, but I still regard this as an imposition. 

The second one is, why should everyone be forced to pray like this? If I want to pray communally, I can go to a church or a mosque. Of my own free will, I go there to pray. And if prayer is so important to me, why can I not pray in silence at the beginning and end of any meeting, workshop, etc? 

For example, we can have a minute’s silence at the beginning of any session while those who want to pray do so silently, and others meditate or do whatever they want to do. In that way, we have freedom of religion and freedom from religion at the same time.

New phenomenon 

This practice of enforcing prayers at every meeting, etc., was not common in the past. With the possible exception of Parliament, secular meetings were secular and concentrated on the issue at hand. At the same time, it seems to go hand in hand with the way we greet one another.

In the past, I do not remember greeting people where the automatic response is Namshukuru Mungu (I thank God). People valued the greetings wherever they met and gave answers to the questions, how is your family, how is your work, how is everything. 

READ MORE: As We Raise the Freedom Torch Again on Mount Kilimanjaro, Are We a Nation of Hope or Despair? 

But now, everything is Namshukuru Mungu. Of course, I have no objections to thanking God, but where has this outward expression of religiosity come from? Have we really become more religious than in the 1970s and 1980s? 

Has our outward expression of religiosity led to more moral behaviour? After what we witnessed last year and the growing cruelty in our society, I doubt it.

A smokescreen

Indeed, I fear that the outward expression of religiosity is actually a smokescreen, used to hide the decline of true religiousness or spirituality. We thank God, we pray at every meeting, we proclaim our faith, but our actions are exactly the opposite. 

People are abducted, disappeared, tortured; gender-based violence, including rape and sexual harassment, are so common that no one even raises an eyebrow, our children are condemned to poor health services and poor education, etc., and then we all go and thank God and pray as loudly as we can, preferably with loudspeakers to hide the cries of those who have little to thank God for.

And yet, the origins of our faith teach something else. For example, speaking to City Times, a scholar from Dubai Islamic Affairs, quoting from the Holy Quran, said that a person, when he prays, is required to use his or her voice at a moderate level. 

READ MORE: Tanzanian Government Lifts Ban on Glory of Christ Tanzania Church After Six Months

“Call on Allah or call on the All-Merciful, whichever you call upon, the Most Beautiful Names are His. Do not be too loud in your prayer or too quiet in it, but try to find a way between the two” (Surat Al Isra: 110), he quoted from the verses.

In the Bible, Jesus also gave the example of the Pharisee and the Publican, with the Pharisee proudly proclaiming how good he was. No one was attacked by Jesus more than the Pharisees for their religiosity, their outward expressions of faith to hide their real nature as oppressors and wachawa of the Romans.

To conclude, I stress that I have nothing against believers of every faith. I am happy when their faith leads them to live well with their fellow human beings. But they should be loud in their deeds, not in their prayers!

​​Richard Mabala is an educator, poet, and author. He is available at rmabala@yahoo.com or on X as @MabalaMakengeza. These are the writer’s own opinions, and they do not necessarily represent the viewpoint of The Chanzo. Do you want to publish in this space? Contact our editors at editor@thechanzo.com for further inquiries.