South Africa not planning to ban adhan: Muslim body

By Hassan Isilow

JOHANNESBURG (AA) - The South African city of Cape Town is not planning to ban adhan (the Muslim call to prayer), a spokesman for the Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) said on Wednesday.

He said some people had made claims on social media platforms that authorities were planning to ban the Adhan (call to prayer), triggering panic among the Muslim community.

“We had a good meeting with city officials on Tuesday and they agreed to send their experts to ascertain the level of sound volume at one of our mosques where a resident raised a complaint,” Shaykh Isgaak Taliep, MJC’s spokesman, told Anadolu Agency.

Taliep said the city requested the mosque management to appoint an acoustic engineer to ensure that the sound volume remains at the required level stipulated by the city administration.

“South African citizens enjoy religious freedom under this democracy. However, we apply this religious freedom responsibly because we live in multi-religious and multi-cultural societies, especially when reciting the call to prayer,” he said.

“In the Western Cape, we ensure that we have the sound of the Muslim call to prayer lower than the required level as stated in the city’s by-laws,” Shaykh Riad Fataar, MJC second deputy president, said in a statement.

Muslims have lived in Cape Town for the past 350 years and have several mosques and heritage sites across the city. The largest Muslim population in South Africa is located in the Western Cape region.

Muslims make up about 2 percent of South Africa’s 57 million population.