Rights and Responsibilities
Everyone, in my view,
has the right to practise their religion without fear of persecution. However,
this right also comes with the responsibility to be considerate of others.
On public transport, we already suffer the nuisance of people playing music through the loudspeakers of their mobile phones.
This is usually not because they have forgotten the
headphones that would afford them the private enjoyment of the music of their
choice; rather than inflicting their tastes on others without permission, they
are simply being antisocial. The same goes for loud phone calls, and I have
found myself speaking up on occasion, dismayed at the breach of the peace.
A Step Too Far
It is on another
level entirely when a fellow passenger decides to play the call to prayer. Even
if that person were the imam, their presence in any setting, and especially on
a vehicle, does not confer the authority to claim the whole space as a mosque.
This is how devotion
slips easily into fanaticism, where common sense deserts faith and public
concern follows. The devotee immediately attracts suspicion and dread, not so
much for the act of worship itself, but because others begin to wonder about
their intentions. When the practice of the religion of peace serves only to
heighten unease, the wider perception of the freedom being exercised becomes a
lightning rod for prohibition.
Where Freedom Ends
Anyone who dared to
challenge that passenger would have found others ready to support them. It
takes only one person to report the incident to the police, and before calmer
heads could dismiss the matter as a question of civility, the spectre of
radicalisation would justly have placed the individual under scrutiny and
questioning.
Being a believer does
not preclude you from behaving as a good citizen; the extent of a right reaches
only to the point before it infringes on the freedoms of another. Whether it be
music, a phone call, or a call to prayer, if you do not have your headphones,
you should accept that you have deprived yourself of the opportunity to listen
to your device when in a public place.
