VIENNA, October 25, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – Imams in Austria are divided on the possible use of monitors carrying translation of Qur'anic verses recited during Tarawih prayers in the holy fasting month of Ramadan.
"Such monitors would help non-Arabic speaking worshipers to understand the recited verses of the Noble Qur’an," Sheikh Adnan Ibrahim, imam of Shura mosque in Vienna, told IslamOnline.net on Tuesday, October 25.
He stressed, however, that these monitors must be installed where only the targeted worshipers can see them in order not to distract the others.
"The monitors should be in the direction of qiblah (direction Muslims take during prayers)," Ibrahim said emphatically.
He maintained that there was no conclusive evidence on banning the use of such a technology to assist non-Arab worshipers.
Young Muslims, born and educated in France, have called for performing Tarawih in French or at least using monitors with French subtitling of the recited verses to break the language barrier and understand the meaning of the Noble Qur’an.
However, several French imams have rejected such calls, urging people otherwise to learn Arabic, the original language of the Muslim holy book.
Prohibition
But other imams in Austria disagreed with Sheikh Ibrahim.
"It is forbidden to focus on anything during prayers other than the Qur’anic verses recited by the imam," said Sheikh Mohamed Shehata, the imam of the Islamic Center in Vienna.
He cautioned that such monitors might distract the worshipers.
"Concentration on the meaning of the Qur’anic verses read out by the imam is the essence of the prayers, as worshipers are being addressed by God."
Sheikh Shehata argued that if the worshipers would be 20% preoccupied with understanding what the imam is reciting, they will be more than 50% busy watching the monitors and their movement.
"Busying oneself with anything other than the prayer is prohibited."
There are 76 mosques and prayer rooms across the country, including 53 in Vienna alone, according to recent estimates.
Muslims in the south-central European country are estimated at 400,000, making up 4% of the 8 million population.
There are some 120,000 Muslims in Vienna alone with 50,000 of whom holding Austrian citizenship.
Islam, which was officially recognized in Austria in 1912 during the reign of Czar Franz Joseph, is considered the second religion in the country after Christianity.