Posted on 03/19/2008 7:14:04 PM PDT by forkinsocket
It is just a few days until Easter, the most important date in the Christian calendar. But for 700 Muslims who have gathered in a rural caravan park, this week has a different religious significance.
And to some of their neighbours, the thrice-daily calls to prayer are proving a strain on a harmonious relationship. The Iranian Muslims have converged on the Trevelgue Holiday Park in Porth, Cornwall, to celebrate yesterday's Persian New Year.
Every day at sunrise, noon and sunset they broadcast their prayers, known as Adhan, on a loudspeaker system. But some residents are complaining that the noise is shattering the idyll of the quiet village near Newquay.
Neighbour Emma Brewer, 35, said "the novelty soon wore off" after the group arrived at the camp last weekend.
She said: "It lasts about 20 to 30 minutes and it is rather loud. I'm a bit naffed off by it, to be honest."
Another resident added: "We are going to have to put up with this all week. It's going off in the morning, at 5am."
A neighbour from nearby St Columb Minor says he was offended because he could hear the chanting as he made his way back from church.
He said: "Why was this broadcast at such a high level of volume so as to be heard miles away? Do the Christian church bells ring out in amplified volumes on Fridays in areas where they are at prayer?
"This was totally unnecessary especially on such an important day in our Christian calendar."
Yesterday the park's manager Mike Finnegan said prayers were at a lower volume in the morning to avoid upsetting neighbours, and insisted noise levels were checked with environmental health.
Other locals say they have not been disturbed by the religious ritual. Harry Heywood, of Restormel District Council, said the group arrived on Saturday and are booked in until tomorrow.
He said: "I haven't heard anything – only a very few people seem to be annoyed. It really isn't a problem. We get thousands of youngsters here every year when GCSEs finish and they make more noise.
"It's only a call to prayer and better than the 'thump thump thump' we get from teenage parties. I did have a couple of complaints from concerned residents who were worried about the potential noise.
"Environmental health officials and the park owner agreed asound level and I have received no more complaints since."
He added: "I've got to say that this is one of the quieter events. To think that there are 700 people there is amazing. I walk my dog nearby and haven't heard a sound."
Another resident said: "I loved it, I was hanging out of the window trying to hear. It's a unique sound that reminds me of travelling and I'd much rather hear it than church bells."
The event, organised by the Islamic Students Association, is a six-day celebration of Persian and Islamic culture.
Yesterday Muslim participants said the seagulls were louder than the call to prayers.
A mother of three from Manchester said: "It is a great time for us and brilliant for the kids to see somewhere a bit different. I can't believe how beautiful it is here. The sea is lovely.
"I'm very surprised if people have a problem with the prayers call. It's not very loud. They always put it at the lowest volume possible – sometimes we can hardly hear it.
"To be honest the seagulls and tractors around here are much noisier."
ROTFLMAO! Now your on to something there.
It's a standard practice of Muslims to force their religion on others. The loud call to prayer 5 times a day is intended as an oppressive behavior by Muslims directed against the non-Muslim population. It is also intended as a form of subjugation to keep the Muslims "in line". A watch would do the job just fine, but that wouldn't serve the ulterior purposes of the Islamic radicals.
are not moving fast enough
If you're Muslim, you have to drop everything and pray when that call comes, or other Muslims will see you not praying and you'll be in trouble. Therefore, employers and schools have to allow Muslims to drop everything and pray 5 times a day, and provide a place for it, or they'll be in trouble. Pretty soon business just needs to shut down 5 times a day to handle it. And then it's the law of the land.
So when you're in the minority at prayer call time and that loud call annoys you, who are you going to complain to? Those guys on the ground? They outnumber you now and it's their law. The pressure to submit intensifies. That's how they take a country without firing a shot.
United Kingdom or United Saudi Kingdom?
““This was totally unnecessary especially on such an important day in our Christian calendar.”
Ever considered that all this was done intentionally?”
What was done intentionally? Both the Persian Solar Calender and the fixing of times for Eastertide were established rather a long time ago....
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