Deprived of loudspeakers, mosques adopt novel ideas to continue broadcasting azaan
In the course of the drive, the police removed 1,608 loudspeakers from religious structures in Mumbai alone. Of these, 1,149 were in mosques, 48 in temples, 10 in churches, four in gurudwaras and 147 in other religious establishments, as per the information given by the state government in the state legislature. On Friday, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis declared that the city had finally been made loudspeaker-free.
Even as several petitions have been filed in the Bombay high court, claiming that the police action infringes upon the right to religious freedom, mosques in the city have begun looking at technology-based innovative options. While some have begun using a mobile application designed to resolve the problem, a society in Maharashtra Nagar, Mankhurd, has installed speakers in flats, connecting them directly to the nearby mosques.
'All the speakers are directly connected with our mosques, and as soon as the muezzin starts reciting azaan, the residents get to hear it,' said Razzak Shaikh, who played a vital role in the initiative. 'It leaves no ground for others to raise objections to azaan.'
Shaikh said that they had pre-empted the police action. 'The police removed speakers from mosques only a few weeks ago, but we had installed the sound system last September,' he told Hindustan Times. 'As many as 50 homes are benefitting from this.'
The second azaan option is a mobile app developed in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, which is turning out to be a feasible option for the community. Over two dozen mosques in the city have already started using it because of its unique features, among them major mosques such as the Mahim Juma Masjid and Sunni Badi Masjid at Madanpura.
The app was developed four years ago as a solution for people who stayed far away from mosques and could not hear the azaan. Seventy-year-old lawyer Allapitchai M, who got the app developed, said that the issues of Muslims living far away gave him the idea of developing such an app. 'The people of Tamil Nadu took to it, and it is being used by around 250 to 300 mosques in the state,' he said.
Allapitachai said he was not aware of the situation of mosques in Mumbai or Maharashtra. 'This app was also not developed for that purpose,' he said. 'This is the reason that when a Mumbai mosque approached us a few months ago, we were not keen on sharing it with them. But then we came to know about the situation in Mumbai and did share it.'
The 'OnlineAzan' app has a distinct feature that offers a separate system for every mosque. 'Those who download the app will get to hear the azaan from their own mosque in real time once a muezzin starts reciting it,' said Allapitchai. 'We have developed a website, 'onlineazan.com', where a mosque can request to be added. We are providing the app absolutely free. It was developed for charity purposes and not to mint money.'
The mosque that first started using the OnlineAzan app was Noor Masjid in Cheeta Camp, Trombay. Social worker Mohammad Ibrahim, 62, said they had been using the app for the last three months. 'As soon as the muezzin recites azaan, all those who have downloaded the app get to hear it at the same time,' he said. 'The community is really happy with it, and now two more nearby mosques have joined in.'
Mohammad Iqbal, trustee of the Sunni Badi Masjid, Madanpura, said they came to know about the app from the Mahim masjid. 'We shared the link through WhatsApp and now most people coming for daily prayers have started using it,' he said. 'We have asked people from other mosques to start using it without waiting for the court verdict.'
Azaan has been a crucial part of daily prayers for centuries, a call for Muslims to come and worship at the mosque. Over the years, the use of loudspeakers was started to ensure that azaan reached out to the maximum number of Muslims.
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