Saudi scholars in stormy debate over Koran ringtones

0 Comments | AFP, November, 2007

RIYADH (AFP) — A top Islamic body in Saudi Arabia has hosted a stormy debate about using Koranic verses as mobile phone ringtones, newspapers reported Monday.

"The scholars were divided on the use of verses from the Koran as mobile telephone ringtones," the Al-Hayat daily said, describing what it called "a turbulent debate".

During the six-day meeting of the Islamic Jurisprudence Council in Mecca, Islam's holiest city, 70 Muslim dignitaries and scholars will "tackle a number of important topics," according to the official SPA news agency.

In recent years many scholars of Islam, especially from Egypt, have denounced the use of Koranic verses in mobile telephony, believing it to be a frivolity that impinges on the sacred character of the Muslim holy book....