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JOHANNESBURG: A South African court ordered a local mosque to stop using an external sound amplifier system for its calls following a complaint from a neighbor, a religious body said Monday.
Muslim religious leaders have pledged to appeal the High Court ruling that ordered the Madrasah Taleemuddeen Islamic Institute in the southeastern coastal province of KwaZulu-Natal to “tone down” the prayer calls, deeming them “too loud.”
The ruling was handed down on Friday.
“We consider this judgment to be a bad judgment,” the president of the South African Muslim Network, Faisal Suliman, told AFP.
“It will be appealed to the constitutional court until the end,” he said.
Chandra Ellaurie, of Hindu religion and who lives in front of the mosque, asked the court to ban the sound and close the institution completely.
He complained that the prayer call that goes off at 1:30 am deprived him of the enjoyment of his property rights.
Court Judge Sidwell Mngadi ruled that the proximity of the plaintiff’s property to the mosque favored the plaintiff’s claim that “the call to prayer interferes with his private space.”
The court ordered the mosque to ensure that the call to prayer is not heard inside the applicant’s home and limited each call to prayer to three minutes.
Suliman said it was the first time in recent memory that someone had gone to court to prevent a religious facility from performing part of its rituals.
In South Africa, Muslims make up almost 2% of a majority Christian population, according to official data.
