“Lebanon Debate”
The repercussions of the lawsuit filed against Sheikh Muhammad Al-Afyouni and Sheikh Abu Abdullah Hossam Al-Zahid continue, against the backdrop of a complaint related to the call to prayer in the Ibrahim Al-Khalil prayer hall in Tripoli, amid widespread controversy over the nature of the case and its background.
In this context, Sheikh Al-Afyouni confirmed, in an interview with Lebanon Debate, that “the circulating talk that the case is a personal dispute between him and the plaintiff is incorrect and includes many fallacies.”
He explained, saying: “I received the lawsuit on Thursday, and it stipulates the need for me, along with Sheikh Abu Abdullah Hossam Al-Zahid, to go to the Al-Tall faction, against the backdrop of a judicial complaint filed against us under the title of inconvenience. When I inquired about the reason for the inconvenience, the answer came that what was meant was to raise the sound of the call to prayer.”
Al-Afyouni stressed that “the issue is related to the prayer hall itself, which is a private endowment. Since its opening, everyone knows that it has been subject to objections related to the issue of the call to prayer by people who object to the sound of the call to prayer,” pointing out that “the objections were centered around not wanting to wake up at dawn because of study or work, or because of the presence of stall owners who went to the prayer hall to perform prayers, which was presented as an uncivilized scene in the region.”
He added that “objectors reject the sound of the call to prayer and Islamic rituals,” considering that “the exaggeration of the issue has led some to try to transform it from an issue related to the call to prayer into a personal dispute.”
He continued: “I do not know the person called Muhammad Abdel Salam Kabara personally, and if the case is indeed personal, how can the filing of a lawsuit against me and Sheikh Abu Abdullah Al-Zahid be explained together?”
He pointed out that “the case reached the Mufti of Tripoli and the North, Sheikh Muhammad Imam, who is directly following up on the file, and we were informed that an agreement had been reached stipulating that the plaintiff’s agent would file a withdrawal of the case tomorrow, Monday.”
