Muslims in the German town of Oer-Erkenschwick in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia have won a case to use a loudspeaker to call faithful to prayer.
A court rejected an application to silence the athaan from a Turkish Islamic community (Ditib) mosque after a five-year legal dispute.
Local residents in the small town filed a complaint in 2015 against the relevant permit, which allowed the Muslims to use the loudspeaker for at most 15 minutes between noon and 2 pm on a Friday.
For five years there was no call to prayer after a couple living about 900 metres from the mosque lodged a complaint, arguing that the athaan infringed on their freedom of religion.
The court, which sits in Muenster, rejected their argument.
“Every society must accept that one will sometimes be aware that others exercise their faith,” presiding judge Annette Kleinschnittger said.
She ruled that as long as no one was forced to practise their religion, there were no grounds for complaint.
