The non-Muslims among us must be wondering, especially those living around the Umoja Estate in Nyali, that while mercifully the whole week, at least two Mosques among the umpteen ones we are surrounded by, have reduced their noise level, Alhamdulillah, comes Friday, and we are inundated by the racket!
So, my question, since I too, am a Muslim, what is it about Friday that they should make more noise than normal? While the Qur'an tells the believers to especially treat the mid-day prayer on Friday as very important and to leave everything aside when they hear the call to prayer and attend congregational worship in the mosque. More so for the men which is a MUST.
Nowhere in the entire Qur'an nor in the Sunnah of the Prophet (saw), does it say that the prayer should be extra-loud or even the sermon (which is counted as part of the prayer). All of this is supposed to be heard only by the attendees in the mosque/s, just like any other day or prayer.
Therefore, my question is, why are these Imams and Muslims in general changing the rules?
If one is not even supposed to disturb the person/s standing in line next to us while praying, who gives you the right to disturb those of us who are living in the vicinity of mosques, and who are also trying to say our prayers (those of us who are females, Muslims and not attending mosques)? By the way, it's optional for women to attend mosques for prayers.
What is the matter with the authorities like NEMA and the County Environment Dept., that they continue to let religious noise pollution carry on? When talking to them one gets the impression that they are either scared stiff of applying this law regarding noise pollution or don't know much about what Islam actually says regarding this loud leading of prayers in all the mosques. They should first and foremost separate freedom of religion from senseless noise-making and then carry on from there. If they don't know what Islam allows and doesn't allow, they should educate themselves.
And don't ask residents who are getting disturbed that they sign a letter to them which is when they will take action. Regarding this, if Islam really allowed loud leading of prayers, etc., our signatures would have scant effect on these people. And if they accepted our signatures, it would show that our religion does not allow disturbing others! Also, how do they manage in other countries which are more law-abiding and don't tolerate noise? Such places don't even allow the loud call to prayer on the PA system.
So, will something be done about this, please?
