Dar al-Ifta issued a fatwa Sunday that said using verses from the Quran or the call to prayer as ringtones for mobile phones is haram, or prohibited in Islam.
The fatwa, which Dar al-Ifta announced on its Facebook page, said the Quran is the word of God, which He revealed to the best of His messengers and of man, Prophet Mohamed, and that God has commanded us to respect and venerate it. Thus, it is unbecoming to use it as a ringtone.
It also said messing with verses in such ways denigrates the sanctity of the Quran, especially when God’s words are interrupted to take a call.
The fatwa added that the same goes for the call to prayer, which should also be revered, and proposed the use of hymns instead.
Religious sentiment has been on a rise since the toppling of former President Hosni Mubarak on February 2011.
Islamic ringtones are very commonly used among Egyptian Muslims, and government reports estimate the number of mobile-phone users in Egypt at 92 million.
