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For the Muslim world, Athens was a stigmatized city without mosques. Today is the first time since the inception of a state-sponsored mosque in Greece that Friday prayers have been offered at the mosque. Two hundred years after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, a state-of-the-art permanent Muslim shrine was established in the country.
A new journey in history began with Jumu’ah’s performance in the mosque. Athens was the only city without a mosque in Europe. Here too the necessary infrastructure for the prayers of Muslims has been prepared. Previously, Muslims in this country used to offer prayers in various informal places.
This liberal environment has been created in the face of a series of fundamental changes in Greek politics. Georgia Calantis, the country’s secretary of religious affairs, said today’s change is the result of a series of efforts by governments since 2008. By passing ‘Law 3512’ in the country, Greece has sent a clear message of democracy, religious freedom and mutual respect at home and abroad. However, the mosque, which has a capacity of 350 people, was instructed to reduce the number of people attending prayers due to the Kavid-19 situation.
Naim El Ghandor, the leader of the Athens Muslim Association, has held talks and lobbied with various government and political leaders to establish a place of worship for Muslims. Now he’s quite overwhelmed. “My son goes to school, he goes to university and lives with Greek children,” he said of the trip to the mosque. But when they went to pray, one went to church while Muslim children went to the underground garage. This image reminds a Muslim child that they are not Greek citizens of the same age. Zaki Mahmoud, a 49-year-old Greek of Moroccan descent, has been named the mosque’s first imam.
The mosque began its life at a time when the economy was deteriorating due to the Kavid-19 situation and internal reasons. Earlier, Costas Gavroglu, the minister of religious affairs for the country’s left-wing Shiraz party, was preparing to hold a groundbreaking ceremony for the mosque on June 7, 2019. But then he stopped. Then he began his journey for the next democratic government of the country. Source: The National Herald.
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