A social media storm has erupted after a video of senior Indian journalist Arfa Khanum Sherwani praising Namaz as a “silent prayer” went viral, triggering fierce pushback from netizens who accused her of ignoring ground realities.
A social media storm has erupted after a video of senior Indian journalist Arfa Khanum Sherwani praising Namaz as a “silent prayer” went viral, triggering fierce pushback from netizens who accused her of ignoring ground realities. In the video circulating widely online, Sherwani highlights what she calls the quiet and non-disruptive nature of Islamic prayers.

“Think about Friday prayer. It takes hardly 5 to 15 minutes to complete the prayer. There is no commotion. No noise. Neighbors are not disturbed. I think, in the world, Namaz is one of the most silent prayers, in which there is absolute silence. There is not even a single word coming out of your mouth.”
The video quickly ran into a wall of criticism as many social media users pointed to the use of loudspeakers for Azan and Namaz, arguing that the experience in several neighbourhoods sharply contradicts Sherwani’s claim of “absolute silence.”
One user recounted years of distress and wrote,“Mere ghar ke piche masjid thi dine mey 5 baar loudspeaker ke rooz Aawaz sunna and ramzan mey 1 mahine faat faat awaz sunna wo torture tha humare family k liye 6 saal guzara hai dockyard road Mumbai mey .”
Another user wrote, “Khamosh namaj hai jisme munh se ek shabd nahi nikalta to wo jo roz din mein paanch baar loudspeaker par jo chilla chilaa ke awaaz sunaayi deti hai wo shabd kahaan se nikalte hain”.


