The Azan, Quran recital and lectures over loud speakers

by Dr R@28

• Firstly and respectfully, I humbly request that only the Muslims place their comments here. I urge the non-Muslims not to respond directly on this post but send me an email privately to share your views. The topic is only dedicated to the Muslims whom I wished to get their views.

• By now everyone knows where I lived. My corner unit house is merely 80m from the BA mosque and I lived in a terrace house of mixed neighborhood of Muslims and non-Muslims. This is a very quiet neighborhood with reasonably well community engagement. Our issue here is the loudness of the Azan and the recital of Quran over the loud speakers, which has become a bane to many of us. I would say I am the worse affected in view of the location of my house and it has wide sliding door the entire sidewall facing the mosque. I have been engaging the mosque committee privately in the last 1 year on the matter. Many of us felt that the volume is increasing becoming louder to a level that it is not longer comforting to the ear.

• As matter of principle and as a man who will defend Islam without hesitation, I felt that it is important and Fardu Kifayah that we address this issue of using loud speakers for Azan once and for all. I believe everyone would agree that all Malaysian would not object to the Azan. However the main objection would be on the excessive loudness of Azan and the recital of Quran using the speakers. Who knows whether the next would be having tazkirah (lectures) using the megaphones?

• Someone claims that by reducing the volume we would be reducing the Syiar of Islam and there is no need for us to bow the Non Muslims demands. I am in the different view where as I would say that we should show that Muslims are level-minded people, easily engaged and fair in making any decisions especially in a plural society.  I believe there are many hadith and verses in the Quran to that effect. By blasting the Azan at such an unreasonable volume, it would make people hatred and stay away from Islam. It will not encourage non-Muslims closer to the religion. In fact we have move to a way that we intentionally cut off the non-Muslim by making so many barriers to even enter the compound of the Mosque.

• The excessive use and loudness of megaphones are not reasonable. The megaphones are man made. The technology is there for us to hear the Azan in a way that is soothing to the ear. Why can’t we use the technology to our advantage? Why can’t we decentralize the megaphones instead of placing all of it on one minaret? Why can’t we adjust the volume to meet the needs of the community? Why cant we do sound mapping and use the legally approved sound levels for the environment, which is objectively set at a certain decibels as a standard? Why do we have to be confrontational with the neighborhood in listening to Azan? Don’t I have rights as a member of this community?

• I for one have no objection for a reasonable volume Azan but disagree on the need to recite Quran or having lectures over the megaphones.  I am the face in this battle as the non-Muslims are too scared and the Muslims in my neighborhood do not want to speak up, as they don’t want to label by the mosque members. Two years ago, my text message to a committee over the issue of Azan was spread to the neighborhood with an added phrase; “what kind of Muslim is Dr. Rafick?” It went around and came back to me. Perhaps there are committee members who are interested in my property and is trying to push me to sell indirectly by chasing me out?