RIYADH: A top Islamic body in Saudi Arabia has hosted a stormy debate on controversial issues including the use of Quranic verses as mobile phone ringtones, newspapers reported on Monday.
The scholars were divided on the use of verses from the Quran 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 Quranic verses in mobile telephony, believing it to be a frivolity that impinges on the sacred character of the Muslim holy book.
Advertising for downloading verses from the Quran has also come under fire.
