Roses Celebrate Czech First Mosque

BRNO — With a festive gala, thousands of blooming, vibrantly-colored flowers and booklets and CDs educating Czechs on Islam, Muslims in the city of Brno celebrated the anniversary of opening the first mosque ever in the central European country. 

"We are celebrating ten years of the Brno mosque which we consider the symbol of Czech Muslims' success story," Munib Hassan Al-Rawi, director of the Brno Islamic Foundation (Brno Mosque), told IslamOnline.net.

"It expresses the atmosphere of tolerance and acceptance between Muslims and non Muslims in the country."

In the gala that took place on Wednesday, July 6, Muslims in Brno used 3635 flowers, which represent the mosque's age in days, to adorn the city.

Some of the flowers were given to residents on the streets, with notes thanking the city for allowing Muslims to have a place of worship.

The festive mood drew the attention of thousands of Czechs.

Many have phoned their friends urging them to come and join the Muslim festival in Brno, the second largest city in Czech Republic.

Extensive media coverage and visiting dignitaries also marked the celebration.

The Brno Mosque opened in 1998, after several years of campaigning by the Muslim community.

The call for building the mosque stood up to considerable opposition from right-wingers, communists and even local Islamophobes.

Besides the one in Brno, there is only another mosque in the capitol Prague. In other cities, Muslims use small prayers rooms for their daily worship.

The Czech Republic is home to around 50,000 Muslims.

In 2004, Prague acknowledged Islam as an official religion, giving Muslims rights on an equal footing to Christians and Jews.

Education

Czech Muslims saw the mosque anniversary as a chance to present the true image of their faith to non-Muslims.

"The anniversary was part of a campaign to break any stereotypes Czechs have over Islam," Rawi, who is also one of the mosque's founders, said.

Along with the flowers, Muslims have distributed booklets and CDs that educates non-Muslims on Islam and tackles the main misconceptions that non-muslims may have over their religion.

Muslims also erected a tenet in the city's main square, Freedom Square, with two exhibitions themed "Discover Islam" and "Women in Islam."

The Muslim community in the city also invited Czechs to visit the Brno mosque on July 5-8 to know more about Islam and Muslim rites. continues here