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Sonu Nigam said the right thing in the wrong way. Period.
There is a fine line between "freedom of speech" and "hate speech". A man like Nigam – Bollywood’s playback singer and a public figure with huge fan-following – should have been a bit careful with his choice of words. When one is in the limelight, he or she needs to put in extra care to check his or her emotions. Unlike common people, a celebrity's outburst has consequences for many.
Making taunting remarks about Prophet Muhammad, and later not apologising for them was also in bad taste. We expected something better from him. In this currently charged atmosphere, Nigam didn't turn out to be much different. I strongly condemn Nigam for the same.
Now the main point of his message that got lost due to his poor choice of words was the use of loudspeakers. Muslims need to do an honest introspection.
1. To wake up or to let people know about the time?
Here are the solutions:
The possible problem would be that not everyone would have phones, let alone smartphones for mobile apps.
2. To spread Islam?
What we think:
What actually happens:
3. It is a tradition or part of our faith?
1. Make a standard. Limit the noise levels within it.
2. Only Announcements Should Be Allowed
Azaan is an announcement. You want to make an announcement that the majlis is about to start, the bhajan kirtan is about to start, you do it.
If your compound is big, use speakers only inside your premises and pointed inwards. Those who are there should have a good experience, and should be able to hear clearly. Those who are not there were not planning to hear what you have to say anyway.
3. Anything in Excess Is Bad.
Until a couple of years back, it used to be peaceful in my village as far as the usage of loudspeaker is concerned. On my last visit, there were two weddings in the village, accompanied by late night dancing with music blaring on full volume.
Move a little forward to Muharram. We see no difference – with different young boys in different imambadas hiring big sound systems with nohas (or lamentation poetry) being played with ear-piercing volumes. Taking cue from this, the village temple has started to play the bhajan on a loudspeaker right before the morning azaan, and it keeps playing for almost an hour.
Is it a competition?
When will this stop?
It is time we start listening to our own hearts – and loudspeakers aren’t helping. They just make us go deaf.
(A social media strategist, Asad Haider Zaidi is the co-founder of ShouldertoShoulder movement, an initiative launched to promote universal brotherhood across different communities. His aim in life is to spread the message of goodness, humanity and love in society. This is a personal blog and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)
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