Athens held its first official Friday prayers on November 6th. For the first time in 200 years, Athens, the capital of Greece, established a state-owned mosque. The idea of a mosque in Athens has been on the table for over a century, the project took a physical form only four years ago. The country is predominantly home to the Orthodox Christian population. There have been multiple delays in this project. Due to the several protests and political controversies the mosque was over 14 years late.
First Mosque in the City of Athens
200,000 Muslims inhabit the city of Athens and its suburbs. Despite this, Athens has been without an official mosque ever since the country was under Ottoman occupation. In recent years it has been the only European Capital without a mosque. On November 6th the mosque opened its door to host the worshippers for the very first time. Although it can host about 366 people, due to Covid-19 it welcomed only five to the first prayer.
Make-shift Mosques
The mosque is located in the industrial area of Athens. Its aim was to provide the Muslim inhabitants with an official place of worship. For several years Muslims in the country have been using make-shift places as their place of worship. Some have made rooms in their houses for praying. They have also utilized unused stores for this purpose. This led to a lot of political unrest in the country. According to the Muslim community of Athens, the new mosque is far from perfect but it is the first step towards acceptance of their religion in Greece. Athens’ first mosque since the 19th century is a dream come true for the people.
Athens had mosques in its past but they were converted into museums or closed down. Over the years the people have converted random places into private mosques but there was always a fear of these places being closed or shut down forever. However, this won’t be the case anymore for the worshippers as now they have a state-owned mosque situated in the heart of the city of Athens.
We are proud as Greek Muslims that Athens is the first European capital that built a mosque exclusively with government funds
– Ashir Haider, a board member at Athens mosque
It’s a Start
The mosque can only host about 300 men and 66 women at a time; hence it is not sufficient for the large Muslim population. However, the representatives of the Muslim Association of Greece say that this still is a very good start as compared to their previous worship places.
The mosque closed temporarily due to the second lockdown imposed in Greece. Nevertheless, as soon as the Covid-19 restrictions come to an end, the mosque may have a grand opening.
Amidst everything that has been happening in the world against Muslims, this truly is an auspicious moment for us as Greece’s 200,000 Muslims finally have a place of worship.
