As soon as the Bilal of Masjid Kampung Hulu had finished announcing the Iqomah, the Imam recited a few verses of doa' and then urged the makmums to fill up the gaps in each saf, "Betulkan saf, rapatkan saf..." When all of the gaps in the front safs had been filled, he started leading the Jumaat prayer with a takbir, "Allahuakbar..." In split seconds, the halls of Masjid Kampung Hulu became silent as all of the makmums, including me, followed the Imam's lead... Only whispers of Quranic recitations could be heard... Then, before the silence could be broken by the Imam's recitation of Al-Fatihah, a familiar sound was heard...

"Dan mungkin bila nanti~ kitakan bertemu lagi~ Satu pintaku jangan, kau ~~"

Hmm? Lagu Peterpan? Cis, ada orang lupa nak 'silent'kan telefon nampaknya... The song from the Indonesian band, Peterpan was heard clearly through out the mosque's hall... even the loud voice of the Imam reciting Al-Fatihah could not swallow the ringtone... I could also hear a few makmums let out little giggles as the song went on for nearly a minute before it finally stopped... "Tiut, tiut... tiut, tiut..." Hmm... the call must had entered the voice mail... However, around a minute later, the ringtone was heard again... The call must be really important...

and thanks for that freaking ringtone, I got confused during my prayer... "Aku dah baca Fatihah ke belum tadi? Urmm... macam dah... tapi... Shit, kena mula sembahyang balik... Nasib baik imam belum rukuk..."

As I started again my prayer, the ringtone was heard for the third time... The owner of the phone must be really into his prayer that he didnt even care to take a second or two to switch off his handphone...

"Tiut, tiut... Tiut, tiut..." ................................. "Dan mungkin bila nanti~~" That's the fourth time... "Tiut, tiut... Tiut, tiut..." ................................. "Dan mungkin bila nanti~~" and that's the fifth... "Tiut, tiut... Tiut, tiut..." .................................. ............ ......... finally, it stopped...


After the Friday prayer was done and the Imam recited the doa', he grabbed his mic and gave a gentle reminder, "Kepada saudara saudara yang membawa henfon ke masjid, sila pastikan ia dimatikan sebelum sembahyang berjemaah dimulakan kerana ia mengganggu para jemaah lain untuk khusyuk dalam sembahyang... terima kasih..."





Then I'm sure we all have our share of experience being bothered by the sound of ringtones and loud phone conversations in the cinema... Pretty irritating rite?




:-S