A member of the House of Representatives in Egypt, Amal Abdel Hamid, submitted a proposal to the Minister of Endowments to unify the timing of the Fajr and Maghrib adhan in all mosques in Egypt during the holy month of Ramadan.
Every year, Egyptians face the problem of varying timings of Maghrib calls from one governorate to another.
It varies even within the same governorate, and the timing of the call to prayer differs from one mosque to another in the same area, she said in the explanatory note to the proposal.
She added: “Why does the Egyptian Ministry of Endowments not study the issue of unifying the timing of the Maghrib Adhan, so that the preachers call to prayer in all the mosques of the republic at the same time, and so that those who are fasting can break their fast together without advancing or delaying?”
She called for applying the same on Fajr Adhan.
Egypt is located between longitudes 24° and 37° east of Greenwich meridian, and it is a geographically vast country, and therefore the issue of time differences between the governorates needs to be studied by the Ministry of Endowments, especially during the month of Ramadan, Abdel Hamid explained.
She stressed that the proposal to unify the Maghrib call to prayer represents a solution to the problem of time differences during iftar in Ramadan.
Unifying the timing of the dawn and sunset Adhan is applied in a number of Arab countries such as Palestine where a circular was issued by the Ministry of Endowments instructing all mosques to unify Adhan timings in Ramadan, as well as in Syria and Iraq.
