High court bid to reopen Bradford mosque in time for Friday prayers ahead of end of Ramadan

A High Court judge has been told that banning a mosque in Bradford from opening for Friday prayers is a breach of worshippers' human rights.

Tabassum Hussain, a committee member of the Jamiyat Tabligh-ul-Islam Mosque on Barkerend Road is seeking a High Court injunction to allow the mosque to reopen for communal prayers ahead of the end of Ramadan this weekend.

Under the latest emergency rules to deal with the pandemic, places of worship must remain closed, although a faith leader can attend to broadcast prayers and acts of worship via the internet.

Kirsty Brimelow QC, acting for the Mr Hussain, told Mr Justice Swift that the Friday prayers, known as the Jummah, are a "fundamental aspect" and an "obligatory" part of the practice of Islam.

She said that the key to the prayers is that they are "carried out physicallyin congregation".

In documents put before the court, Ms Brimelow said: "The regulations not only prohibit an obligatory aspect of Islam, but they have done so at a highly symbolic moment, namely during the holy month of Ramadan, when the importance of strict religious observance is attenuated."

She also argued that the effect of the regulations mean "it is lawful for a member of the public to visit garden centres, golf clubs, or house-viewings in private homes, but not for the claimant to arrange for socially distanced communal prayers in a mosque."

She told the court: "There is no difference in our submission to a gatheringof people within a garden centre to a gathering of people inside anotherplace."

Sir James Eadie QC, representing the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said in court documents that there is an "undisputed interference" with the ability of people to attend their place of worship during the lockdown, but that this is "justified and proportionate by the need to protected life and public health".