Manama: A Saudi woman has been praised for her quick thinking when, in a highly unusual move, she used the loudspeakers of a mosque to request help for the muezzin who had been stabbed.

The woman and her husband were walking in the early hours of the day when they saw their Syrian neighbour chasing another man.

He informed them that he wanted to catch the man for stabbing the muezzin of the neighbourhood mosque.

The couple headed to the mosque where they found the muezzin lying on the carpet after he was stabbed nine times by his aggressor.

“While the husband was trying to help me, the woman switched on the microphone and the public address system and called for urgent help from neighbours,” the muezzin told local news site Sabq. “They rushed in and I was transported to the emergency department of a public hospital,” he said.

The stabber, who was arrested by the police after they surrounded his house, confessed that he was the brother of the muezzin’s wife and that he had stabbed him following a family dispute, Sabq reported on Sunday.

Commenters heaped praise on the Saudi couple and the Syrian expatriate for their role in rescuing the muezzin and apprehending the stabber, singling out the woman for her quick decision.

“May God reward them for their positive reactions and bravery,” Sufata, a commenter, said. “The woman was great in her quick thinking and courage to use the public address system to call for assistance. May God guide her to more good deeds,” she posted.

In her comments, Nafa said that the woman was “truly brave” to resort to the loud speakers and call for help.

“Some women are worth tons of gold,” she said. “May the muezzin recover soon and may the stabber get his just punishment.”

However, one commenter objected to the wife’s use of the microphone.

“The woman’s behaviour is rather odd. She acted as if she was an air-raid siren to alert people when she could have just used a mobile phone to call the police or a hospital,” the commenter said.

Mosque loudspeakers are used five times a day exclusively to call Muslims to prayers.