Al-Aqsa imam warns against Israeli bill to ban Muslim call to prayer

The imam of Al-Aqsa Mosque has warned against an Israeli bill that would legalise restrictions on the Muslim call to prayer after it was approved by a ministerial committee on Sunday.

Sheikh Ekrima Sabri said efforts to curb the adhan – the Islamic call to prayer – had resurfaced after “repeated failed attempts to ban it or reduce its volume”.

“The current attempt to ban the Muslim call to prayer has taken a dangerous turn by legalising the banning of the call to prayer through issuing a law to prohibit it,” he said on Monday.

The proposed legislation was approved on Sunday by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, following its submission by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and National Security Committee chair Zvika Fogel.

The committee plays a key role in determining whether proposed legislation advances to a preliminary reading in Israel’s parliament, the Knesset.

Although the committee has endorsed the bill, it must still be approved by the Knesset. No date has yet been set for a vote.

Under the proposal, the installation or operation of loudspeaker systems would be prohibited by default unless a permit is obtained.

Approval for loudspeaker use would depend on criteria set by Israeli authorities, including volume levels, noise-reduction measures, a mosque’s location, its proximity to residential areas and its impact on nearby residents.

‘[Israeli authorities] have no right to consider the call to prayer as a disturbance or noise’

– Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, imam of Al-Aqsa Mosque 

Police would be empowered to order the immediate shutdown of loudspeakers if permit conditions are breached. Continued violations could result in the confiscation of equipment.

The bill also proposes heavy fines. Operating a loudspeaker system without a permit would carry a fine of 50,000 shekels ($17,719), while breaching permit conditions would incur a penalty of 10,000 shekels ($3,545).

It remains unclear whether the legislation would apply to Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, a Palestinian territory recognised as occupied, despite its formal annexation by Israel in 1980.

‘No right’

Ben Gvir and Fogel have argued that the legislation is necessary because noise from the muezzin – the person who calls Muslims to prayer – constitutes a “public health concern”.

“In many places, the noise of the muezzin is unreasonable and harms the quality of life and health of residents. This is a phenomenon that cannot be tolerated,” Ben Gvir said.

Palestinian citizens of Israel, who would be directly affected by the legislation, have condemned the proposal and rejected claims that mosque calls to prayer constitute a noise problem.

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They argue that the bill is another manifestation of the government’s efforts to erode Palestinian religious and cultural identity.

Sabri said Israel, as an occupying power in East Jerusalem, has “no right to alter the existing status quo of the occupied territory”.

“They have no right to enact laws that contradict the laws that were in effect in the country before its occupation,” he said.

“[Israeli authorities] have no right to consider the call to prayer as a disturbance or noise,” he added. “The disturbance and noise come from the war machines of the aggressors.”

Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem, including the Old City, has long been regarded by much of the international community as contrary to international law, which holds that an occupying power does not acquire sovereignty over occupied territory and may not make permanent changes to it.

Efforts to restrict or ban the Muslim call to prayer in Israel are not new.

In 2017, a similar bill seeking to ban the use of loudspeakers for the call to prayer passed a first reading in the Knesset but was never enacted.

At the end of 2024, Ben Gvir instructed police to prevent mosques from broadcasting the call to prayer, saying it “disturbs” Jewish residents.