Posted on 10/28/2003 3:20:51 PM PST by dennisw
News
Winners: MP Meg Munn with Jack Shields, Summer Lawson, and Elizabeth Atkin Legal bid to curb mosque
EMERGENCY legal action has been taken by Sheffield Council to stop a makeshift mosque being used for prayers during the major Muslim festival of Ramadan.
Councillors have ordered a 'stop notice' to prevent Muslims in Brightside, Fir Vale and Firth Park from using a community centre in Rothay Road, Grimesthorpe, for prayers.
The city centre planning board made the decision after hearing of serious tension between the Muslim community and local residents.
Tempers were flaring over parking problems as up to 190 worshippers were attending the building.
Councillors have agreed prayers can take place for two hours on a Friday afternoon but were seriously concerned when Muslim leaders said they were planning to use it at other times during Ramadan.
Ramadan started on Sunday and will run until November 23, when prayers can start as early as 4.30am and last until 9pm.
Brightside Councillor Peter Price told the meeting: "We are in a very sensitive position.
"When the community centre is used for prayers everyone comes by car and there's not a single parking space. As soon as people come home from work and can't get their car parked, that's when the aggravation starts. People get very angry and this issue is upsetting the community. It's already very serious but Ramadan would be a major issue and there will be enormous rows breaking out.
"It's very volatile and we don't want to make it any worse."
There is another mosque nearby but this is used by the Pakistani-speaking community, while the Rothay Road building is used by Arabic-speaking worshippers.
Muslim community leaders says if they cannot use the building, people will be forced outside.
Planning officer Chris Heeley said: "The Muslim community says it will pray on the streets in some cases."
Muslim leader Omer Abdul Qader told the meeting: "As a religion we are not allowed to pray with women in the same mosque.
"Now Ramadan has started our small mosque is totally occupied by women so we have nowhere else to go but the community centre.
"People will be ready to pray, so where should they go?"
But Coun Mike Pye, chairman of the planning board, said: "The board is very clear it cannot allow permission to pray in this community centre at any time other than Friday afternoons. We will have to take enforcement action and you will have to make alternative arrangements.
"This is a very congested area of small streets and terrace houses and if there's a lot of people visiting clearly there will be parking problems. We have a very sensitive situation but we do have to take action to prevent unlawful use if this building is being used during Ramadan without planning permission. We want to be as helpful as possible but local members have spoken about the tension with residents."
The council will issue a stop notice from today and it will come into effect within three days.28 October 2003
Straight to hell, in my opinion.
You left out the socialists. They enable the Muslims to contort the courts and secular norms. Look closely at the socialists. They are a collection of lunatics, the disaffected, the lazy, aimless minorities, and gangsters. The gangsters (lawyers in my opinion) hustle the others into a mob that scares the productive individual.
We need a good run of vigilantism to clean out the pus.
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