a day ago
Residents welcome reduction in use of loudspeakers at mosques
Mumbai: Many residents living in densely populated areas and in the vicinity of mosques have welcomed the silence or reduced decibel levels of loudspeakers in mosques.
Several residents TOI spoke to on Sunday said they felt a positive change as the mosques in their neighbourhoods either muted loudspeakers or cut down decibels to the permissible limit (55 decibels during daytime and 45 decibels at night).
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This allows elderly persons, students, and bedridden patients much-needed relief.
"I stay hardly 200 metres away from a couple of mosques at Kurla Pipe Road. I don't see any decrease in the number of devotees in mosques after azaan stopped being amplified through loudspeakers. This is a relief and should be welcomed," said Mohammed Tarique.
Tarique added that he is a practising Muslim who regularly prays five times a day but does not miss the sound of azaan via loudspeakers.
Tarique recalled a trend of many mosques which amplified through loudspeakers not just the azaan but even Friday sermons of the imams. "What was the need to make the whole mohalla listen to sermons delivered inside mosques? ... I am glad it has stopped now that loudspeakers are muted or decibels reduced," said Tarique.
Kalina resident Abraham Mathai welcomed the move. "I used to put earplugs during azaan on loudspeakers.
Now it is a relief for everyone, including students and elderly people. I congratulate even those elders in the community who back this positive move," said Mathai.
Khursheed Siddiqui, general secretary, Masjid and Madrassa Mohammadiya at Vikhroli, said that soon after Bombay high court observed in Jan 2025 that "use of loudspeakers is not an essential part of religions", he called for a meeting of elders and explained why loudspeakers' decibel levels needed to be brought down to permissible limit.
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"There were some who argued why only mosques needed to comply with the court's decision, but now we all see the benefits of not amplifying the azaan through loudspeakers," said Siddiqui.
Mira Road resident Syed Zafar Ahmed lives in a cosmopolitan locality. "If I felt irritated at high decibels of azaan, how would non-Muslims have felt? I am glad many mosques have themselves removed the loudspeakers or are following the court's guidelines on the use of loudspeakers," said Ahmed.
