CR: Brno Muslims want new mosque

CR: Brno Muslims want new mosque


Muslims want to build a new mosque in Brno because the existing house shrine no longer meets their needs, Muneeb Hasan, chairman of the Brno-based Islamic foundation, told CTK Thursday, but the town is not much happy about the idea.


Hasan said the existing mosque does not have study and lecture rooms.


"It is our vision for the future," Hasan said about the considered project.


He said the Brno mosque was opened in Brno 11 years ago as the first Muslim place of prayer in the Czech Republic.


Some 120 Islam followers meet in it and their number is growing.


Hasan said he believes that a new mosque can be built in Brno without provoking the public's resistance. He said Muslims have coexisted with the other Brno inhabitants without any problem to date.


To mark the 10th anniversary of the mosque opening last year, the Muslims handed out 3653 roses as a sign of friendship. One rose was for one day in the ten years.


Brno deputy mayor Daniel Rychnovsky (Christian Democrats, KDU-CSL, spoke with CTK about the project with reservation, but he stressed the town hall has not made any official decision on it.


"I think Brno has already once shown its tolerance when it agreed with the building of the mosque in Videnska street, and that this is enough," he told CTK.


Rychnovsky said the Muslim world is by far not so open to Christianity as the West to Islam.


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Source: Prague Monitor (English)