Complaint against muezzin’s appeal in South Africa

Authorities in the South African coastal city of Cape Town is expected to meet representatives of a local mosque. After a complaint about his daily calls to prayer deemed too loud.

In a letter to the mosque in the Strandfontein area, the city’s environmental protection officials complained of “noise nuisance” whenever the adhaan (call to prayer) was broadcast by loudspeakers. Especially the speakers on the roof.

The December 4th letter ordered the Masjidus Sauligeen Mosque to stop the noise caused by the loudspeakers and to submit a “noise management plan” by an accredited acoustic engineer within 21 days.

An elderly person living near the mosque has filed a complaint, reports News24. The mosque has since replaced the call to prayer with a single beep, he adds.

The Imam of the mosque, Moulana Yusuf Mohammed, told the Muslim Judiciary Council (MJC) that they had received a complaint several years ago and that they immediately decreased the volume of the speaker and that he was not sure if there was a new complaint.