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For two days, Dagbladet has written about how the small Alnor Senter mosque in Tromsø has ended up in an international Islamic network, through Saudi businessman Sulaiman al-Shiddi and Swedish President Hussein al-Daoudi.
For more than 14 years, the points of contact between al-Shiddi’s various projects and investments have crossed the road from downtown Alnor, a survey by Dagbladet shows.
Especially thanks to the close collaboration between the Alsalam school in Sweden and Tromsø, and the money transfers from the foundation that was formerly called al-Risalah, but has now changed its name to Scandinavian Education Foundation (SSFU) .
– It is absolutely crucial to have control over the fact that there are no activities in mosques, congregations or Koranic schools in Norway that can contribute to segregation, radicalization or be an obstacle to integration. Dagbladet’s revelation about a controversial school in Sweden and possible links to a congregation in Tromsø that has also applied for municipal funds for gender-segregated swimming lessons underscores this, says Himanshu Gulati (Frp), who is part of the Family Committee and Culture in the Storting, at Dagbladet.
– Must be in control
The Alnor Foundation, owner and operator of the mosque in Tromsø, has stated in its statutes that it wishes to manage a kindergarten and a school.
The Swedish researcher and professor Aje Carlbom from the University of Malmö therefore believes that the connection with the Swedish SSFU will be more problematic. Carlbom received his Ph.D. in Native Swedish-Immigrant Relations at Rosengård in Malmö.
– The foundation that owns and runs the Alsalam school, formerly called al-Risalah, is well known as a Wahhabi organization in Sweden. It is part of the great Islamist activity that is growing in Sweden, financed with public funds. Islamists participate in schooling and other activities for children, because they want to make sure that children are socialized to be Muslim believers. Islamists fear that young people will be affected by the blasphemous culture of outside society, Carlbom tells Dagbladet.
The Alnor center receives more than 800,000 in public grants and compensation annually, the 2018 accounts show.
Neither Alnor, Alsalam nor SSFU have wanted to answer Dagbladet’s questions, but they write on Facebook that they are the ones making the plan in Tromsø.
“We have many good volunteers who practice the recitation of the Quran every week, learn Arabic, about Islam and how to behave in the wider society and respect each other. Our study program is elaborated in Alnor by the course instructors, committees and in collaboration with parents. Teaching follows the Norwegian etiquette for education and education, “Alnor writes on Facebook.
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Broad political agreement
The concern that support from states without religious freedom also provides hidden guidelines on what kinds of attitudes will be communicated to Norwegian Muslims in mosques runs across the entire political spectrum in Norway.
– SV believes that it is a pity that Norwegian religious communities receive support from authoritarian regimes such as Saudi Arabia, because we fear that it could lead to radicalization and that connections with authoritarian forces abroad are created, says Freddy André Øvstegård (SV) to Dagbladet .
Unknown link to controversial Muslim school
Øvstegård is also on the Family and Culture Committee, and believes that Dagbladet’s disclosures on Swedish cash flows show some of the problems with regulation.
The new Law of Faith, which was passed at the Storting this summer, allows religious and philosophical communities can they lose state support if they receive funding from regimes that do not practice freedom of religion and belief.
– We have proposed that it should not be allowed to accept money from authoritarian regimes, we have obtained a partial victory for that. There will be more transparency around you and you will be informed. But this shows exactly the problems, says Øvstegård.
Støre still says no
Labor leader Jonas Gahr Støre also believes that the law that was passed this spring is still not good enough.
– Today, the law allows the denial of grants to religious and philosophical communities that accept contributions from states that do not respect the right to religious freedom. This is good, but it should be followed by a binding dialogue with recipients of support, something that the Labor Party has proposed in the Storting, Støre tells Dagbladet.
As Minister of Foreign Affairs, Støre became involved in Alnor in Tromsø, when the mosque requested public approval of a one million donation for a new Arctic mosque. That was in 2010, but Støre didn’t want to give his blessing to the funding.
Covert support of authoritarian states
He said no to money.
– It was common knowledge that communities in Saudi Arabia, all closely linked to the country’s religious authorities, financed the start-up of religious congregations and groups in Europe. I was very skeptical of this. Saudi Arabia does not have freedom of religion and converting to Christianity can lead to the death penalty, for example, says Støre, continuing:
– But regulations to say no to financing legal activities in Norway were deficient. Therefore, I formulated myself in such a way that such an investment “was not welcome”. The immediate response was that they would not contribute to the funding against the wishes of the Norwegian government, Støre told Dagbladet.
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– It was time
Frps Gulati is also happy with the new law of faith that was passed earlier this year. He believes that more oversight will lead to fewer cases of foreign funding of Norwegian religious communities, at least if religious communities also want public support in Norway.
Religious Communities Law:
- The Storting passed the new Law on Religious Communities on April 24 this year.
- In section 6 on the basis for denying state subsidies, the following legal text was adopted:
“Religious or philosophical communities that accept contributions from states that do not respect the right to freedom of religion or belief may receive grants.”
- At the same time, the Storting adopted an expanded right to monitor grant recipients and an expanded duty to report on outside support:
“Religious and philosophical communities that receive grants are required to report to the supervisory authority every year. If a religious or philosophical community receives contributions from outside, it must provide special information about it. “
- The Ministry’s own proposal on the maximum limit on the amount that a religious community can receive from abroad without being in danger of losing state support is NOK 100,000 per year.
- The ministry is unaware of the extent of foreign funding for Norwegian religious and philosophical communities and, according to the plan, it will be drawn up before the law takes effect on January 1, 2021.
– This spring, the FRP fought for a majority in the Storting, which means that there will soon be a ban on “Koranic schools” with accommodation, and that there will be more supervision. The change in the law means that congregations are no longer allowed to receive support from countries that do not respect religious freedom, if they want public support in Norway. This doesn’t come too soon one day, Gulati tells Dagbladet.
