A banned on the use of loudspeakers to call for prayer was placed by the Saudi government in May.
It is an order to lower the volume of the traditional call to prayer and sermons at mosques. The volume should now be turned down by two-thirds.
After this statement is made, a little-known religious leader published an online article criticizing the decision by the Ministry of Islamic Affairs.
However, he was arrested by the government.
The head of the federation representing Saudi businesses announced that shops, restaurants and other enterprises would be allowed to remain open during prayer time — another major development in a country where businesses, for decades, have closed five times a day.
“Those days of inconvenience are now over,” an article said.
Hiba Zayadin, a Saudi researcher with Human Rights Watch said “We’ve known since MBS embarked on this dual journey of new reforms and increased repression that this was a strictly top-down approach, that the reforms are not meant to be seen as a response to popular demands but as steps MBS himself wanted to take.
Anyone who speaks out does so at great risk not just to themselves but to their families and close circles as well.”
Since 2017, religious leaders have been arrests, as the government make clear that all schools of thought will be targeted unless they agree with the government.
That said, Mohammed is rewriting the longtime power-sharing arrangement between the ruling family and the clerical establishment — a partnership that created the kingdom.
In conclusion, fears have been spreading around that ‘Islam’ the fabric of the kingdom is now unravelling. But those fears are rarely shared anymore because people are been arrest all around.
