In Bareilly, silent marriage functions are music to residents’ ears
When the guests reached the residence of Muhammad Ikrar Beg on October 8 to attend his son’s wedding in Faridapur area here, they complained that they could not locate the venue easily as there was no arrangement of music.
“People could not imagine a marriage function without any sound and music. I had to explain to them the rule of our locality,” says Beg.
About 1,000-odd households of Faridapur area in north Bareilly have made it a norm that no family will use loud music at functions and those violating the rule will have to face social boycott.
Most of the inhabitants of the locality are Muslims whose lives depend on adda (embroidery frame to make zari). “Ours is a closely knit society where people know each other. It is more like a village than a modern locality,” says local councillor Mohd Akil ‘Guddu’.
People say bonding among the residents helped Faridapur unite against loud music, which according to local Imams, is the “making of the
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devil himself”. “Loud music is considered ‘haraam’ (forbidden) in Islam and is prohibited. This was the first thing we made people realise before asking them not to engage DJs during functions at their houses,” says Md Ejaz Ahmed Barkati, 28, who came up with the idea. “Last year, my grandmother fell ill after loud music was played at a function in my neighbourhood,” says Barkati.
Though his idea was praised, it was tough to convince people. “I personally met the residents, wrote letters to authorities urging them to prevent the use of loud music but nobody paid heed. I decided to approach the Imams and elders to seek support,” he says.
The elderly, who were affected the most by loud music, came to his aid. Imams also announced they would not read ‘nikaah’ if loud music was played. After getting the support of Imams, a total ban was announced. “We went door-to-door to inform people and sought their support,” says Barkati.
The group has collected 600 signatures in the last two months and the last four marriages in the area were held without loud music. Three families cancelled booking for DJ and two DJ operators in the area have shifted their business out of the locality.