The sheikh’s voice, amplified through a distorted megaphone perched just outside the mosque, booms and echoes off the neighborhood’s worn buildings and throughout its narrow alleyways.
It’s a bit too loud, according to the Egyptian government, especially considering that the other estimated 4,000 mosques in Cairo all perform the same adhan at slightly varying times with different voices.
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It's fine to go ahead and talk about this issue. I can see where the people would feel distressed by the government decision. However, it is nothing at all like the controversy over building the Mosque, actually expanding the mosque into a center for a variety of activities, including a restaurant, a gym and other facilities. This is an example of the government interfering in the details of people's lives. The problem in New York is related to racism and general anti-Muslim sentiment that are continually inflamed in the the US by the press. The new law in Cairo affects practitioners of the main religion, and is undermining the capacity of the population at large to express certain traditions in their own way. The situation in New York is one where people who don't live in the area are attempting to constrain the actions of those who do based biases and misapprehended associations. Only one minority group is under attack here.
I do want to say that the sound of the muezzin coming from all the mosques, when you listen from a central point, is kind of wonderful. At the same time, if you live directly across the street from a Mosque, the muezzin is painfully loud. I don't know the answer, but it seems like the Egyptian government has been overly heavy handed in their response.