Muslim man accuses council of breaching his human rights

Muslim man accuses council of breaching his human rights by preventing him from building an edge around his father’s grave to stop people walking on it

• Atta Ul-Haq is attempting to stop people walking across burial site in Walsall   
• The council has refused to allow him to build an edge around his father’s grave 
• Mr Ul-Haq told court the rules of Islam forbid people from stepping on graves  

A Muslim man is locked in a bitter High Court fight with a council which he says is breaching his human rights by stopping him from building an edge around his father’s grave.  

Atta Ul-Haq, a practising Barelvi Muslim, wants to erect the edging to stop people walking across Hafiz Qadri’s grave in Streetly Cemetery in Walsall, West Midlands.

He says Islamic law forbids people from stepping on graves and claims that the council’s policy breaches his human right to exercise religion – a right enshrined in Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Atta Ul-Haq says the rules of Islam forbid people from stepping on graves. Pictured, Muslim graves

But Walsall Council leaders say they cannot accommodate Mr Ul-Haq’s wish without harming the rights of other Muslims.

They say regulations permit the ‘mounding of graves’ and mounding is the way Muslims normally inhibit people from walking on graves.

• 
  Thieves ransack house and steal laptop, jewellery and…

  
  Property developer is accused of Islamophobia after…

Share this article

Bosses say their approach has been ‘careful, sensitive and accommodating’.

Walsall Council leaders say they cannot accommodate Mr Ul-Haq’s wish without harming the rights of other Muslims

Atta Ul-Haq has taken his fight against Walsall Council to the High Court in London

Two judges are analysing the dispute at the High Court in London.

Lord Justice Singh and Mrs Justice Carr began considering legal arguments on Tuesday, and the hearing is due to end on Wednesday.

Mr Ul-Haq’s lawyers say the case could have implications for the Islamic community.

Source: Read Full Article