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Athens:
After years of delays brought on by crimson tape, cutbacks and opposition from non secular and political factions, the primary government-funded mosque in Athens since 1833 opened its doorways to worshippers on Friday.
Hundreds of hundreds of Muslims from international locations together with Pakistan, Syria, Afghanistan and Bangladesh reside in Athens however the metropolis has not had a proper mosque because it compelled occupying Ottomans to go away practically 200 years in the past.
Plans to construct a mosque in Athens started in 1890 however it took many years for them to materialise as a consequence of opposition from a predominantly Christian Orthodox inhabitants and nationalists, sluggish paperwork however most not too long ago a decade-long monetary disaster.
Amid a coronavirus outbreak, solely a restricted variety of worshippers, carrying masks and sitting at a distance from one another as a consequence of COVID-19 restrictions, attended prayers.
“It is a historic moment for the Muslim community living in Athens, we have been waiting for this mosque for so long,” mentioned Heider Ashir, a member of the mosque’s governing council. “Thanks to God, finally, we have a mosque which is open and we can pray here freely.”
But different Muslims had been sad with the mosque’s look. A gray, rectangular construction with no dome or minaret, has no resemblance to different swish, ornate mosques in Europe.
“It does not at all look like a place of worship, it is a small, square, miserable building,” mentioned Naim El Ghandour, head of the Muslim Association of Greece. “We thank them very much for the offer, but we will fight to reach it to the level that we deserve.”
Under a lockdown to curb a surge in COVID infections, gatherings for formal worshipping can be banned from Saturday till Nov. 30.
“We will pray at home, and as soon as the lockdown is over the mosque will again be open for the worshippers,” Ashir mentioned.
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