Why Mumbai's mosques are falling silent
Mohammed Wajihuddin
TNN
Aug 8, 2025, 16:29 IST IST
Muslims are navigating silence, with mosques forced to mute loudspeakers and shift the call to azan to phone apps. Now with Ganesh Chaturthi approaching, will the Mumbai Police enforce noise guidelines with the same urgency?
Right opposite Sunni Badi Masjid in central Mumbai's Madanpura lives Ayaz Mohammed Hussain's family — in a two-room house in an old building named Chhota Isa. Hussain, 65, a retired railway guard, and wife Shama never had to check namaz time on their wall clock or mobile. The 127-year-old mosque's loudspeakers amplified the azan five times a day. Until the night of June 24, when police took them down.
Residents of Madanpura and many other parts of the city are now experiencing an unexpected stillness in their immediate environment since police in Mumbai began enforcing noise guidelines two months ago.
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