The renowned Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawas has recently stirred up debate among Egyptians.
After discussing the call to prayer and its detrimental effects on foreign visitors, the former Minister of Antiquities was bombarded with inquiries.
In a televised interview, he claimed that certain Egyptians’ actions hurt visitors and that the call to prayer should only be heard within mosques.
He added that the situation he was personally exposed to when he was in a hotel in preparation for presenting a lecture, as he woke up, and the tourists who were in the hotel, with the voice of the call to prayer, is the cause for his demand to prevent the call to prayer through loudspeakers.
A devout person, as he said it, is not content with other people’s disruption, thus he added that he felt as though the voices from the amplifiers were all around him while he was in the Luxor Governorate.
However, the talk of Hawass met some criticisms on social media, where some commentators considered that the call to prayer in Egypt, which is characterized by its frequent minarets, is a sign and feature of society, and an authentic part of it, and therefore the tourist must accept it, as part of the country he visits.
Others supported the archaeological community, arguing that it was rather healthy in his opinion.
Zahi Hawass causes a storm around the Egyptian call to prayer with the phrase “Totals tourists”
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