Mosques cut down on loudspeakers' decibel levels
Azaan, or the Islamic call to prayers, lasts for a few minutes. However, the use of loudspeakers for azaan by mosques has been in the crosshairs of some members of other faiths for a long time.
The controversy keeps hitting the headlines, with courts, the Supreme Court, and different high courts laying down guidelines for the use of loudspeakers for religious functions and ordering penalties for violation of the rules.
As the latest round of controversy over loudspeakers in mosques rages, several mosques in the city and suburbs have voluntarily brought down the decibel levels to the permissible limit.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the permissible noise levels in residential areas are 55 decibels for daytime and 45 decibels for the night.
Much before BJP functionary and ex-MP Kirit Somaiya took it up and allegedly put pressure on the police stations to remove loudspeakers from mosques, in 2022, MNS chief Raj Thackeray aggressively opposed the use of loudspeakers for azaan.
Jama Masjid Al Shams at Mira was among the first mosques in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) to install the machine to keep the decibel levels of its loudspeakers under the permissible limit.
"The machine hardly costs around Rs 1500. Our Masjid trust's office has kept the records of the decibel level of every azaan since the day we installed it in 2022. We were the first to follow the guidelines of the Supreme Court about the noise level.
Many other mosques replicated the practice," informs Syed Muzaffar Husain, chief trustee of the Jama Masjid Al Shams and former MLC.
Those opposing loudspeakers at religious places cite the January 2025 verdict of the Bombay High Court, which graded the punishment for violation of the guidelines.
It mandated the cops to act against the violation in three stages: warning, penalty (Rs 5000 per day), and seizure of the loudspeakers. "Just the other day, the local police visited our mosque and asked us to remove the loudspeakers. We have told them we will follow the guidelines and are soon to set the decibel level to the permissible limit," says Abul Hassan Khan, trustee of Masjid Ajmeri and Madrasa Ali Hassan Ahle Sunnat at Sakinaka.
It was at another meeting in Sakinaka again where former minister Arif Naseem Khan announced that a legal team headed by senior counsel Yusuf Muchchala will challenge the state Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) May 11, 2025, circular, which demands religious places to submit property cards and proof of the structures' registration with the Waqf board or charity commission while seeking permission to use the loudspeakers.
Neither the Supreme Court nor the Bombay High Court has put this condition in its guidelines for granting permission for loudspeakers.
Many have cautioned against the politicisation of the loudspeakers' issue and suggested pragmatism. Shoaib Khatib, trustee of the iconic Jama Masjid of Bombay near Crawford Market, says his mosque follows the permitted decibel level for its loudspeakers. "In any case, loudspeakers are used only for azaan four times a day as there is no use of loudspeakers between 10 pm and 6 am, and the morning azaan is given without the use of a loudspeaker," says Khatib.
Businessman V R Sharif is against the use of loudspeakers. "I have told many mosque managements to avoid using loudspeakers, which are a nuisance. Today, everybody carries a mobile phone, which can be used to set the alarm for azaan. We live in a diverse society, and we should not do something which disturbs the peace of our neighbours," suggests Sharif.
General Secretary of Mumbai Congress Asif Farooqui slams the tendency to add to the noise. "Everybody knows that loudspeakers add to noise pollution. Nowhere is it written that our prayers will not be accepted if azaan is not amplified through loudspeakers. Move ahead with the times and compete for education and employment, not in creating noise," says Farooqui.
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