Mosque calls for prayer for first time in granada 600 years after moors left Spain
Regional-Spain, Religion, 7/11/2003

A mosque is to be dedicated Thursday in in the Albaicin neighborhood of Granada (southern Spain) 600 years after Moors left Spain and after 22 years of continuous efforts of the Moslem community to realize this project.

Along with Granada's mayor, delegations from Morocco, Malaysia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and the UAE are scheduled to attend the dedication ceremony during which verses of the Koran are to be read out by a group of students from an Islamic school in Majorca.

On Friday, 400 guests will take part in the Friday prayer of the new mosque, designed to be also a compound to disseminate knowledge about Islam and facilitate research.

President of the mosque foundation, Malek Ruiz, told the press he hoped the religious complex would "become a place of reference for everyone who wants to discover the purest tradition of Islam."

"The truth about Islam can be presented to Spaniards and Europeans from this historic Muslim city," he added.

The mosque compound includes an Islamic center, gardens and a terrace overlooking the Sierra Nevada mountains and the Alhambra. The gardens will be opened for the public as it was agreed on in an accord signed with the town council.

The new edifice will not only be a place for prayer but a center where Muslims can train and learn, researchers can study, and conferences and exhibitions can be held. It will also be a place of reference to eliminate stereotypes about Moslems and reflect an image of tolerance and conviviality, members of the Association of Moslems in Spain told MAP.

The mosque, whose cost is valued at more than four million Euro, will also provide social, cultural and religious services for the Moslem community in Spain and for immigrants. Religious activities will be run by Mohamed Al Kasbi, the mosque's Imam who is originally from Morocco.

Since the land of the mosque was purchased, the project ran into difficulties with the death of Morocco's King Hassan II in 1999, who cherished the scheme, and the discovery in 1983 of archaeological remains that halted the building work for some time.

Previous Stories:
  Spanish-speaking Muslims hold congress in Seville   (4/1/2003)
  Grenada Islamic council satisfied with municipal changes   (1/6/2000)

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