Sydney mosque members receive ‘death threats’ in call to prayer furore

Members of one of Australia’s largest mosques say they have received death threats since plans for new loudspeakers to broadcast the Muslim call to prayer sparked public backlash over “intrusive noise” and property price concerns.

Security measures have ramped up at Lakemba Mosque in Sydney’s west amid an ongoing planning row centred on a $22,000 proposal by the Lebanese Muslim Association to add four new loudspeakers to the mosque’s prominent minaret.

The proposal involved using the loudspeakers to play the Adhan call to prayer once a week, on Fridays, for up to 15 minutes at a time.

But the plans have hit a major hurdle: Canterbury-Bankstown Council is expected to refuse the development application (DA) at a meeting next week due to concerns over “significant noise” and “unacceptable amenity impacts” that were raised in public submissions.

Lebanese Muslim Association secretary Gamel Kheir said what was intended to be a straightforward development application has turned into a planning quagmire, with the mosque receiving online abuse from those opposed to the proposal.

Kheir said the abuse has included death threats, resulting in the mosque investing in new security measures, including additional CCTV cameras.

“There have been objections which are, in the worst-case scenario, purely based on Islamophobia,” he said.

“The paranoia has been purely based on the same old thing that we hear constantly – that Muslims are taking over the place and that somehow the call to prayer is associated with a terrorist threat.”

Kheir said the association had been receiving threats towards the mosque since September 11, 2001, but the recent spate had been “on another level”.

“What I find interesting is that the majority of people who’ve been objecting don’t even live in the Canterbury-Bankstown area,” he said.

“No one objects to the ringing of the bells of St Mary’s Cathedral in the CBD or the Maronite church in Punchbowl, yet somehow the call to prayer is perceived as a threat.”

Canterbury-Bankstown Council planning records show 328 submissions lodged during public consultation objected to the DA, with critics detailing concerns ranging from “intrusive noise impacts” to “religious concerns” and fears the development would set a “precedent”.

Some submissions took aim at the proposed height of the loudspeakers, while others argued that the installation would drive down local property values.

A council planning report found that while the speakers were permissible under the religious zoning of the site, the proposal presented “significant noise impacts” and cannot proceed in its current form.

Noise modelling, lodged as part of the development application, predicted the call to be prayer would be played at a noise level of up to 92 decibels – roughly equivalent to the sound of an active motorbike – and would be audible at a radius of about 100 metres from the mosque.

Kheir said the Lebanese Muslim Association is now in talks with Canterbury-Bankstown Council to submit additional noise modelling reports, a move he hopes will result in the council reconsidering the application and giving it the green light.

“We’ve been sympathetic to the surrounding area, and the speakers will only be operating for the midday prayers on Friday,” Kheir said. “It’s not as though we’re a nightclub, keeping people awake at night – it’s very limited in nature.”

The plans submitted to council stated that the call to prayer would “foster a sense of unity and shared faith” and be a “familiar and comforting sound for many residents, marking the rhythms of daily life”.

A Canterbury-Bankstown spokesman said the recommendation to refuse plans will come before the council’s local planning panel next week, where it will be up to panel members to determine if a decision is deferred.

The plans for the mosque come as various other religious sites across Sydney plan far larger developments, including Plymouth Brethren Christian Church’s $109 million plans for a church on the site of an industrial warehouse in Rydalmere.

Malek Fahd Islamic School in Beaumont Hills is also seeking NSW government approval to increase its student capacity from 704 to 1300 students as part of a $123.6 million redevelopment of the site.

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.