Malappuram: With one Azan,' 17 mosques to chip in for noise control

MALAPPURAM: The mosques here are leading the way in controlling noise pollution.   The  authorities of 17 mosques at  Vazhakkad in the district have joined hands to  curb the  indiscriminate use of loudspeakers. They have agreed that there will be only a single Azan, which is the call for prayer five times a  day, for all the 17 mosques in the entire region and have signed an agreement to keep the practice intact. Notably, all  the otherwise warring Muslim sections-- two factions of Sunni and Mujahid (Salafi), Jamate Islami and Tableeg Jamath-- have stopped the use of loudspeakers from last Sunday as part of the agreement.

According to the arrangement,  the single Azan will be called from the Valiya Juma Masjid, the biggest mosque in the Mahal, the local Muslim council. The rest of the mosques would only repeat it without noise. Besides integrating the Azan five times a day,  the use of loudspeakers for all other religious programmes in these mosques has also stopped. There are seven mosques run by various groups in the Vazhakkad town alone besides 10 others in the interior places.

“The decision was in response to the public opinion that indiscriminate use of  loudspeakers had a negative effect on nearby schools, merchants and even public meetings of various organisations and that it should be stopped,” says T.P Abdul Azeez, president of the council. The decision was followed by several rounds of deliberations between the factions. A five-member panel has also been constituted to unify the timing of Azan of all the mosques.

The panel would soon meet the leaders of all the Muslim groups  and  Panakkad Hyderali Shihab Thangal  seeking  to unify the timing within a week. “We have already met Sayed Naser Hay, the chief Qazi of Kozhikode,  seeking directions on this and he has sought some time to make up his mind,” Azeez said. This is  the first collective move after Muslim League supremo Hyderali Thangal requested all the mosque authorities to curb the  use of loudspeakers in 2015.  He had written that the loudspeaker in the mosques should not be a nuisance to  the students and those engaged in their work.