Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Aceh Man Stands By Lawsuit Against Loud Mosque Speakers

Jakarta Globe | February 22, 2013

A 75-year-old man in Aceh has filed a controversial lawsuit against local religious officials alleging that the noise from a nearby mosque’s six loudspeakers has negatively impacted his life.

Sayed Hassan originally filed the lawsuit against the Al Muchlisin mosque, the Aceh Religious Affairs office, Ulema Consultative Assembly (MPU) Aceh, Islamic Sharia Agency, and the Gampong Jawa village chief in December of 2012, according to Tempo.co.

Sayed claimed that the Al Muchlisin mosque, which is located 100 meters from his home in Gampong Jawa village, Banda Aceh, began broadcasting sermons from Baiturrahman radio twenty minutes before morning and evening prayers.

He reportedly asked the Imam to turn the volume down, but he refused.

Sayed responded with the lawsuit.

Hundreds of residents in Gampong Jawa were outraged after the matter made it to the Banda Aceh district court on Feb. 11. They demanded Sayed apologize for filing the suit and withdraw his claim.

Sayed told the local news portal Aceh.Tribunnews.com that he was sorry and would withdraw his case.

“I’m sorry for my mistake,” he wrote. “If I repeat it, I agree to be ousted from this village.”

But on Thursday, he told Tempo.co that villagers forced him to issue the statement. He had no plans to withdraw the lawsuit. The mosque, he said, continued to broadcast loud sermons at 4:30 a.m.

“This problem has not been solved,” he told Tempo.co on Thursday.

Banda Aceh’s deputy mayor said Sayed had no basis for filing the lawsuit. The man’s house, he said, is too far to be impacted by the loudspeakers.

“This is the first such case in Aceh and it is strange because the house of the plaintiff is located far from the mosque,” Deputy Mayor Illiza Sa’aduddin Djamal said.

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/aceh-man-stands-by-lawsuit-against-loud-mosque-speakers/573384


Indonesian Wins Rare Victory Against Noisy Mosque February 25, 2013

Acehnese Sayed Hasan reads an Islamic book at his house in Banda Aceh on February 25, 2013. Hasan said on February 25 he had won a rare victory against a noisy mosque, despite being forced to withdraw legal action after an angry mob threatened to kill him. Complaints against the loud speakers issuing the call to prayer have been met with extreme opposition in Indonesia, the world's biggest Muslim-majority nation that is home to about 800,000 mosques. (AFP Photo/Chaideer Mahyuddin)

Banda Aceh. An elderly Indonesian said Monday he had won a rare victory against a noisy mosque, despite being forced to withdraw legal action after an angry mob threatened to kill him.

Complaints against the loud speakers issuing the call to prayer have been met with extreme opposition in Indonesia, the world’s biggest Muslim-majority nation that is home to about 800,000 mosques.

And when Sayed Hasan, 75, filed a lawsuit in December in the city of Banda Aceh, in which he complained of being disturbed by lengthy recordings of Koranic verses, it was met with strong protests from the community.

But Hasan, a Muslim, said despite being taken to see the deputy mayor and Muslim leaders, and then being escorted to the court where he was forced to withdraw his legal suit, he had ultimately won a rare victory.

“I was forced to withdraw my lawsuit as an angry mob threatened to kill me,” he said. “But after I dropped my case, the volume was significantly turned down by about half.”

A local Muslim leader said the imam had decided to reduce the noise.

City dwellers in Indonesia are often woken up before dawn by intermingling calls to prayer from three or four nearby mosques. Many also blare Koranic verses or broadcast day-long events through loudspeakers.

Ninety percent of Indonesia’s 240 million citizens are Muslim. While most practice a moderate form, Aceh province has implemented Sharia law, which is enforced by special Islamic police.

Agence France-Presse

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/editorschoice/indonesian-wins-rare-victory-against-noisy-mosque/573911