Ellaurie sought a court interdict to silence the call to prayer, to shut down the institution’s operations in the residential neighbourhood and sell its property to the state or to a non-Muslim entity. The Madrasah had opposed the granting of the relief sought, contending the call to prayer was not amplified and no other neighbours had complained.
“The applicant states that, in particular, relating to the drastic relief sought in the banning of the Madrasah from the area, he was acting on behalf of himself as well as in the public interest. “The applicant’s attempt to have the Madrasah banned on religious doctrinal grounds is, in my view, doomed to fail there are other Muslim mosques in lsipingo Beach. To ban only the Madrasah is a futile exercise.”
“It doesn’t make sense because we have a right to practise our religion, it is a constitutional right enshrined in the Bill of Rights. That right can only be limited in terms of general application, it can’t be one person, and in this case it is only against my client,” he said.“There are municipal by-laws that you can’t exceed and he made no objection that we exceed the sound level. His sole objection is that he doesn’t want to hear it because he finds Islam offensive.