Kwazulu-Natal High Court has ruled the call to prayer at a mosque in Durban, South Africa, was ‘too loud’ after a resident, Chandra Ellaurie, a Hindu, who lives opposite the mosque, brought a case arguing the payer call “deprived him of the enjoyment of his property rights”.
The court ordered the call to prayer from the Madrasah Talemuddeen Islamic Institute in Isipingo Beach to be toned down.
Kwazulu-Natal High Court Durban’s Judge, Sidwell Mngadi, issued a court judgement stating the mosque makes sure its prayer call is not audible within Ellaurie’s house.
“The proximity of the applicant’s property to that of the Madrasah and the overwhelming evidence of the making of the call to prayer … create probabilities that favour the applicant’s version that the call to prayer interferes with his private space,” Mngadi said in his court order.
The Mosque, on Wednesday, said it will appeal the ruling.
Ellaurie, the neighbourhood resident who made the complaint, said that the call to prayer gives the neighbourhood “a distinct Muslim atmosphere”. He has complained about the call to prayer since 2003 and also approached the South African Human Rights Commission in July 2004 regarding his plight.
Ellaurie had also petitioned the Mosque institute in Dunbar be closed down, but Court Judge Mngadi has refused to make such a ruling.
Chairman of the Isipingo Muslim Association, Mohammed Patel, said the mosque did not plan to further use external sound amplification.
Moulana Abdul Kalik, chairperson of the Muslim Judicial Council in South Africa, told Al Jazeera that Ellaurie’s complainant was a weak case as the prayer call from the mosque was being regulated and was not “on loudspeakers”.
The Dunbar Court ruling has advised the Isipingo Beach Muslim Association “desist from using the external sound amplifier system during the first call to prayer of each day (3:30am local time)”. The ruling also stated that each call to prayer should not exceed a three-minute time slot.
In an interview with Aljazeera, commissioner of the South African Human Rights Commission, Mohamed Ameermia, said the ruling was “shocking” as it violated a number of constitutional rights such as the right to equality and the right to freedom of religion.
Professor of constitutional law at the University of Cape Town, Pierre de Vos, , commented on the court ruling saying Ellaurie’s complaint was “a serious mistake”.
Professor De Vos stated that property owners do not have an absolute right to “undisturbed enjoyment of property” under South African law, as assumed by the Dunbar Court judge.
“Property owners are required to tolerate a degree of nuisance from their neighbours,” said the professor.