{"id":4330,"date":"2014-07-03T17:01:10","date_gmt":"2014-07-03T17:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kashmir-today.net\/?p=4330"},"modified":"2014-07-03T17:01:10","modified_gmt":"2014-07-03T17:01:10","slug":"ramzan-kashmir-valley-debates-high-pitch-mosque-speakers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/?p=4330","title":{"rendered":"This Ramzan, Kashmir Valley debates high-pitch mosque speakers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Peerzada Ashiq<\/span><\/p>\n

Srinagar:<\/strong> Prolonged use of loud speakers in hundreds of Valley mosques during Ramzan has triggered a major debate this year with a senior politician of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) feeling intimidated and mulling selling his house for its proximity to such a speaker.
\n\u201cFollowers of a deaf God have led me to this passive action. Stop paying the monthly donation to mosque whose loud speaker is making life of the locality miserable. If that does not work, I seriously contemplate selling my house even at a discount that proximity to the mosque with a microphone entails,\u201d wrote PDP MLC and the party spokesman Naeem Akhtar on his Facebook (FB) wall.<\/p>\n

The FB post elicited a barrage of responses claiming support to an end to the use of speakers besides Azaan, a call for prayers, performed five times a day.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople need to turn their loudspeakers off and lighten up a bit. Surely God means for us to sleep and laugh, even as He means for us to pray and reflect,\u201d wrote Aliya Nazki, a netizen.<\/p>\n

Every year, Ramzan, the Islamic month of fasting, witnesses prolonged prayers in evenings and mornings in the Valley, which is house to several thousand mosques.<\/p>\n

A number of mosques prefer to keep loud speakers on even after reciting Azaan for recitation of Quranic verses and praises towards Allah.<\/p>\n

The society is, however, divided among traditionalists who are for use of speakers. \u201cWe have been using speakers for decades now for reciting Durood (praises for Allah and the Prophet) that has a rejuvenating effect on soul,\u201d said Maulana Azhar Shah, a preacher.<\/p>\n

In contrast, there are several Muftis (religious leaders) who oppose the idea of turning mosque speakers into a source of noise pollution and discomfort to others.<\/p>\n

\u201cMosque speakers should restrict its use to Azaan only. It should not become a source of discomfort for others,\u201d said Syed Hamidullah Haqani, Valley\u2019s well-known preacher.<\/p>\n

Haqani argues that it has been a source of distraction for devotees too. \u201cWhen we say collective prayers of Tarawhi in the evening, the devotees get to hear verses from all sides from other mosques too. One has to concentrate on the verses being recited by an Imaam (one leading the prayers) of the mosque,\u201d said Haqani.<\/p>\n

Many argue that the prolonged use of speakers takes a toll on the patients living in that particular area.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am really feeling helpless and miserable. A cardiac patient like me deserves all the sympathy for losing sleep, so essential,\u201d said PDP leader Akhtar.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Peerzada Ashiq Srinagar: Prolonged use of loud speakers in hundreds of Valley mosques during Ramzan has triggered a major debate this year with a senior politician of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) feeling intimidated and mulling selling his house for its proximity to such a speaker. \u201cFollowers of a deaf God have led me to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4331,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4330\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}