If you do not know the exact address where Islamic Mosque of Athens, you will hardly find it. No matter how much you go up and down the Holy Road, you will not see even something that looks like a mosque, nor is there a minaret in the background that protrudes behind the industrial zone of the area, nor any sign that indicates it. And yet it is there, at number 114, at the height of Votanikos, buried in the recess between two old buildings. Perhaps the only element that can make you suspect something, is the Police patrol that cuts walks in the area for security reasons.
Amid the news of the pandemic and the dramatic increase in cases, the first mosque in the Greek capital started operating almost silently from the beginning of the week. after successive postponements and delays - intentional and unintentional. It is enough to consider that the first law approved by the Greek Parliament regarding the construction of a mosque in Attica, dates back to 1880 XNUMX!
We pass the hazy main gate and about 50 meters further in, we are in the courtyard of the mosque which has a total area of 17 acres belonging to the Navy. There is silence. The faithful who have come are few because the protection measures against her are observed Covid 19 - maximum number of entrants 9 people at a time. In front of the main building of the temple, which is not something impressive, nor does it look like the image of the windows we have in mind, there is a fountain and to the left a small playground. Four swings, a seesaw, two slides and various other toys. It seems that it is brand new and that few bombers have visited it.
We leave the shoes on the outside, especially in a plastic bag tightly closed due to coronavirus, we disinfect our hands with antiseptic liquid and enter the main temple (Muslims usually wash their feet, hands and face before entering, while at this time they bring with them an individual prayer mat or if they do not have one, they receive the special piece of laminated paper which they place in the place of prayer). It is a large enough room of 1.000 square meters, paved with a specially crafted carpet (made in Iran) whose design indicates the place where every believer should sit in order to worship facing Mecca - all mosques are oriented towards the Kaaba of Mecca. There are 500 seats for men and on the right entering a side space, another 50 seats for women.
Of course, the interior walls are simply painted white and do not have any representation or statue, as the Islamic religion is non-iconic. There are not even sayings from the Qur'an in beautiful contexts or arabesques (these intricate decorative designs of Arabic art that everyone admires). There are also no seats.
Right in front of the faithful stands the mihrab, a kind of sanctuary with a semicircular recess, to the right of which we see the so-called minbar, a type of elevated pulpit or despotic. "There the imam goes up for the religious sermon" as they inform us. Imam's debts to Islam mosque Athens is performed by 49-year-old Sunni Mohamed Zaki. He came to Greece about 25 years ago from Morocco as an economic immigrant and has been living in our country ever since. He is fluent in Greek, English, Arabic and French, has a degree in physics and mathematics with special studies in Muslim theology, and enjoys the acceptance of most Arabs living here.
The imam was chosen by the seven-member board of the "Steering Committee of the Islamic Mosque of Athens" (supervised by the Minister of National Education and Religions Mr. Niki Kerameos) and the qualification of multilingualism was necessary, since the sermon will be allowed only in Greek or by concession in English while prayer always in Arabic.
It should be emphasized that the mosque was built entirely with money from the Greek State (the budget amounted to 887.000 euros) and was a conscious decision as from the beginning the Greek governments that spent all these years building the temple did not want any other involvement or individuals offered to pay the required amount. Athens becomes the first capital of Europe where a public mosque operates. In the other countries of the old continent the mosques are private and therefore controlled by those who put the money to build it. And in our country it was offered e.g. Turkey and a number of Arab countries to finance the construction of the mosque, but the Greek government refused for this very reason. For her to have complete control.
With its opening (it will be officially inaugurated when possible, after the end of the pandemic) the state estimates that it will put an end to the anarchic situation that prevailed for so many years with the Muslims of Athens to pray in the basements of apartment buildings, closed parking lots and other areas, without control and safety rules. The question, of course, is how many can be served numerically by a mosque of 550 people, especially every Friday which is the main day of prayer (the corresponding Sunday of Christians) and whether the Muslim will start e.g. from Galatsi, Voula, Mandra or Piraeus to go to the Botanical Garden to perform his worship duties.
The history of the mosque is very old. From June of the very distant… 1880 the law "on the concession of a free national plot for the construction of a Turkish mosque in Piraeus" had been passed by the Parliament, but without anything important being done on a practical level. A century later, in 1979, Prime Minister Constantine Karamanlis promised King Fahd of Saudi Arabia that it would be built. mosque but still not implemented in practice.
In the year 2000, with the law 2833, Khourmouza is defined as the location of the mosque under construction in Peania, but due to the reactions of the Church and the inhabitants of the area, it did not move forward.
In 2006 the effort continued with law 3512, which contained important amendments: the construction of the mosque to be financed exclusively by the Greek State, the mosque to be state-owned and the imam to be appointed by the State. The project was repeatedly delayed due to legal actions by various groups, which appealed to the Council of State. In 2016, the current Minister of Development and Investment, Adonis Georgiadis, as a candidate for governor of Attica (in the regional elections on November 7, 2010) had set a pre-election goal of stopping the construction of the mosque.
Finally, after four unsuccessful tenders for the designation of the companies that will undertake the construction of the mosque, the fifth tender becomes successful. The construction of the mosque was undertaken by a consortium of large Greek construction companies, with the contract for its construction being signed on October 10, 2016.
Before the construction, the police removed from the space protesters had taken occupation. Construction began on November 4 of the same year and was completed last year, shortly before the national elections. The then Minister of Education and Religions, Costas Gavroglou, stated that "Democracy spoke and its wish came true. "Athens finally has a place of prayer for citizens, immigrants, refugees and visiting Muslims."
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