Kollam: An Azan is a call for daily prayers or Namaz, recited through loudspeakers five times a day in mosques. But the Kuttippuram jama’ath at Thazhava here has been following an extraordinary practice of sounding a siren to invoke devotees for Namaz. If there is no power supply, a ‘maddalam’ or drum serves the purpose.
“I have been living in Kuttippuram ward from my childhood. The siren from the mosque has influenced the timeline of the people there. The siren is a tool for us to acknowledge time according to which even the routine schedules are planned,” R. Anupama, development standing committee chairperson, Thazhava panchayat, told DC.
The custom of using a siren instead of Azan was initiated by eminent Muslim scholar Thazhava Muhammad Kunju Maulavi some 43 years back, and is followed by the mosque authorities ever since. “When Thazhava Maulavi went to give a speech at Vallapuzha, Pattambi, he noticed a siren being used instead of Azan. He wanted to implement this here too,” Shihab Thoppil, Kuttippuram jama’ath secretary, told DC.
The Kuttippuram mosque was set up by Thazhava Maulavi who appointed his disciple Ahmed Koya Maulavi as the imam.
