04-06-2007, 01:56 AM
Bismillah: Assalamo Alikum.
IslamOnline.Net
By Nasseem Ackbarally, IOL Correspondent
Muslim politicians and scholars discuss the issue in the Muslim College in Port Louis. (IOL Photo)
PORT-LOUIS, Mauritius — Muslims and non-Muslims in Mauritius have rejected in unison a court ruling banning the use of loudspeakers in raising the Adhan (Muslim call to prayer), warning that it could jeopardise social harmony in the southern African country.
"Muslims have never ever protested against the construction of other places of worship," Fouad Uteene, head of the Muslim Citizen Council, told IslamOnline.net.
"They have never asked Chinese people to stop lighting firecrackers to mark their religious festivals nor churches to stop ringing the bell. Why do they want to stop us from raising the Adhan from loudspeakers," he wondered.
The Supreme Court has ordered late last month the local authority in Quatre-Bornes, a town 20 km south of the capital Port-Louis, to remove loudspeakers of the main Hidayat-Ul-Ilsam mosque after one resident filed a lawsuit, arguing that he was annoyed by the loud voice of the Muezzin (the man who calls for prayers).
Muslims raise the Adhan five times a day.
The verdict was based on a law enacted decades ago, prohibiting the use of loudspeakers, amplifiers and car horns noisily.Offenders are fined 500 rupees.
The law, however, is not enforced strictly as authorities condone, for instance, Chinese fire cracks marking religious festivals.
"It is shocking to hear some people say that they are allergic to this call for prayers," said Nissar Ramtoola, the imam of Jummah Masjid in Port-Louis, adding that it is offensive to call Adhan noise.
Sheela Mohunparsad, the secretary of a Hindu temple in Goodlands, agreed.
"In our region, everybody practise his religion calmly and we do not consider Adhan as a nuisance," he told IOL.
"Instead, it helps us to get up early in the morning, not only for going to work but also when we are fasting."
Muslims make up 16.6% of population in Mauritius. Hindus are a majority with 48% followed by Roman Catholics at 23.6%, according to the CIA's World Fact Book.
Social Harmony
"This could harm the social fabric in the island," warned Mohamed. (IOL Photo)
Muslims and non-Muslims were especially worried that the ruling could cast a cloud over the country's social harmony.
"This could harm the social fabric in the island," Muslim lawyer and politician Shakeel Mohamed warned.
He said Mauritius is neither an Islamic nor a Hindu nor a Christian country.
"This makes the beauty of this island," Mohamed added.
The lawyer warned that the verdict could further have a domino effect on other places of worship like temples and churches, which also use loudspeakers in some rituals.
"The law as it stands prohibits the use of loudspeakers outside a place of worship," he said.
Mohamed said the verdict also threatens the major religious festivities in the country as the faithful are used, for instance, to using fireworks for celebration.
"The social fabric of the island may become fragile if Mauritius would have to go without Eid, Bakr-Eid, Maha Shivaratree, Ougadi and other religious festivals," he said, mentioning the names of major Muslim and Hindu festivals.
Dheeraj Seetulsingh, chairperson of the National Commission for Human Rights, said it is an inalienable right for Muslims to raise the Adhan and for Christians to ring church bells.
"We have accepted the sound of bells, the voice of the Muezzin and others in a spirit of tolerance," he said, stressing that freedom of religion was guaranteed by the Constitution.
Following the court ruling, hundreds of Muslims took to the streets, urging authorities to repeal the controversial verdict.
Muslim activist Areff Bahemia also warned of massive protests in the coming days if the court ruling was not repealed.
Amendment
Lord-Mayor of Port-Louis Reza Issack is against the ban on Adhan, uring officials in the town at issue to reverse it. (IOL Photo)
Lord-Mayor of Port-Louis Reza Issack said the municipality of the town at issue should amend regulations to help cement social harmony in the country, adding that he will take the initiative.
"We’ll amend the regulations as soon as possible because a judgment cannot disturb the racial harmony that exists since so many years in Mauritius," he said.
Ian Ernest, Archbishop of the Anglican Church, called for a compromise.
"On one side, there is the fundamental right of people to live in peace and tranquillity and on the other there is the fundamental right to religious practice," he said.
"We should find a compromise between personal comfort and religious tradition."
The Council of Religions also stepped in.
"This is not a problem between two communities on the island," the council said in a press release. "We suggest the setting up of an independent platform assembling experts in human rights, religions and in laws to work together on this issue."
However, Hindu Priest Pandit Ved Gopee reminds Muslims and non-Muslims of the recent visit made by South's Africa renowned bishop Desmond Tutu.
"He came to help us consolidate the brotherhood that exists among the different communities of the island. Now we are starting something bad," he said.