Malmö Mosque

Malmö Mosque

Coordinates: 55°34′29″N 13°03′07″E / 55.57472°N 13.05194°E / 55.57472; 13.05194 The Malmö Mosque (Swedish: Malmö moské) is the second oldest mosque in Sweden. It is located in Jägersro villastad, a neighbourhood in Husie, Malmö. It was inaugurated on 20 April 1984 and is administered by the organization Islamic Center.[1] Adjacent to the mosque is a charter school, which is also run by the Islamic Center.

There have been several attacks against the mosque, including an arson attack on 28 April 2003, which damaged the mosque and totally destroyed other buildings at the Islamic Center.

History

The idea of building a mosque in Malmö arouse already in the beginning in the 1960s but the zoning for the construction started in the late 1970s. The construction started in April 1983 The initiator of the project was Bejzat Becirov and as of 2013, he is still the chief executive officer. Malmö Municipality was helpful by sparing a big plot of land of 32,000 square metres. After some standard procedures such as archaeological excavations, the construction started in April 1983. The mosque was inaugurated on 20 April 1984 and the first Friday prayers were held that day.[2]

Attacks

There have been several attacks against the mosque. One of them, an arson attack in 2003, damaged the mosque and totally destroyed other buildings at the Islamic Center.[3] The restoration cost was 17 million Swedish kronor.[4] There were two smaller arson attacks in 2005[3] and the last of them cost 1 million Swedish kronor. No one was arrested for the attacks in 2003 and 2005.[4] Between then (October 2005) and the reopening in 2004, there were at least 20 other cases of sabotage.[4]

The serial shooter Peter Mangs, who were responsible for the 2009–10 Malmö shootings, was convicted for attempted murder on an imam in the mosque on 31 December 2009.[5] He fired several shots against a window but missed his target, though the imam got hit by broken glass.[5]

Capacity and community size

The mosque and the school

The mosque is well-attended, both by Muslims from Scania and Copenhagen, Denmark.[1] Today, the mosque is too small to satisfy the needs of the Muslim community in the city and region, which according to the Islamic Center stand at 45,000 and 100,000, respectively.[2] Around 1,000 individuals attend the Friday prayers, and the mosque accommodates over 70,000 visitors per year..[6]

There are over 130 languages spoken among the members of the organization.[6]

School

The charter school is called Ögårdsskolan and was opened in 2000. It follows the Swedish curriculum but has an Islamic orientation. It is open for everyone. As of 2013, the school has 227 students from preschool class to primary school until age class six of nine.[7]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Oklart om nytt moskébygge". Sveriges Television. 7 September 2007. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
  2. 1 2 "Historik – tiden, platsen, tanken och framtiden". Islamic Center. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
  3. 1 2 "Arson attack on Malmö mosque". The Local. 22 October 2005. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 "Brandattentat i natt mot moské". Aftonbladet. 22 October 2005. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
  5. 1 2 "Peter Mangs får livstid". Aftonbladet. 25 April 2013. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
  6. 1 2 "Verksamhet". Islamic Center. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
  7. ↑ "Medvetet val ger bättre betyg". Sydsvenskan. 11 November 2013. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
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