The Swiss Senate overwhelmingly rejected on Friday, June 5, a proposal by right-wing parties for banning minarets in the central European country. “It is appalling to have a discussion in Switzerland about a minaret ban for ideological motives,” Radical Party Senator Dick Marty said, Swissinfo reported. By a 36-3 vote, the Senate rejected an initiative…
The first stone has been laid in the construction of the Al-Nour Mulhouse mosque, marking the symbolic beginnings of construction which should be completed in 2011. The first stone was laid by the city’s mayor, Jean-Marie Bockel, who reminded the media of Mulhouse’s commitment toward religious diversity and dialogue. The prayer space will occupy 1358m2,…
The Créteil Mosque, the first “real” mosque in the Val-de-Marne with a dome and a minaret, officially opened its doors two years after the Union of Muslim Associations of Créteil (UAMC, or Union des associations musulmanes de Créteil) began construction. The president of the UAMC, Karim Benaïssa welcomed local Muslims to the 550 m2 prayer…
Berlin’s first Ahmadi mosque opened its doors in the former eastern side of the German capital last month. The building and the religious group are putting religious tolerance to the test. A 13-meter-high (43-foot) minaret competes for attention alongside pillars advertising the fast food outlets at a busy intersection in Pankow, a north-eastern suburb of…
It has a 34-metre minaret and a dome-shaped ceiling handpainted with floral patterns and verses from the Qur’an. Its crowning glory is a golden chandelier engraved with 99 epithets for Allah, and there is seating for 2,000 worshippers. Germany’s biggest mosque opens tomorrow in the Ruhr valley city of Duisburg in what leaders of Germany’s…
