Mosque leader to challenge rules on Friday prayers at High Court
A MOSQUE leader has been given the go-ahead for a High Court challenge over lockdown restrictions on Friday prayers due to the coronavirus crisis.
Under current emergency rules to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, places of worship must remain closed – apart from a few exceptions such as funerals, and for faith leaders to broadcast prayers and acts of worship via the internet.
Tabassum Hussain, chairman of the executive committee of the Jamiyat Tabligh-ul-Islam Mosque, one of the largest mosques in Bradford, is pursuing legal action against the Department for Health and Social Care, arguing that the rules are unlawful and breach his human rights to practise his religion.
Following a High Court hearing yesterday, Mr Justice Swift gave permission for Mr Hussain’s challenge to go ahead to a full hearing.
Judge gave permission for a challenge on prayer rules to be heard in court.
However the judge declined to grant an urgent injunction that would have lifted restrictions and allowed prayers to take place at the mosque today, ahead of the end of Ramadan this weekend.
In his ruling, the senior judge said that the case was “no longer simply a prohibition on communal Friday prayers during the period of Ramadan” but a “more general challenge” on the effect of the rules on “the ability to conduct Friday prayers”.
The judge said he could “appreciate and sympathise” with Mr Hussain’s frustration at the restrictions on his religious convictions.
However, refusing the injunction sought by Mr Hussain, the judge said he “did not consider any evidence relied upon or submissions made are likely to satisfy a court that the Secretary of State has failed to strike a balance that is fair”.
He noted that the “duration of interference” in Mr Hussain’s ability to attend communal prayers is “finite”, with the Government’s rules time-limited and subject to regular review.
He also said that decisions taken over the steps needed to combat the spread of coronavirus are “complex political decisions which the court should not lightly second guess”. Not date has been set for the hearing.