Mesquita Brasil (Mosque Brazil) is a mosque located in
Cambuci, central district of
São Paulo
São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...
city,
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
.
It was first founded in 1929
by the Muslim Beneficent Society of São Paulo.
Mesquita Brasil is the
oldest mosque in Brazil
and one of the oldest mosques in
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
.
History
History of Mesquita Brasil dates back to the 1920s. In the aftermath of the
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, many Muslim immigrants began arriving in São Paulo after fleeing troubles in the Middle East region. In 1927, Palestinian Muslim Charitable Society was formed by some
Palestinian immigrants including Darwich Gazal and Hosni Adura. As more immigrants arrived from Syria and Lebanon, they changed the name of the society to Muslim Beneficent Society (SBM) in 1929. The Mesquita Brasil began in 1929 with the formation of the Muslim Beneficent Society (SBM) of São Paulo.
The Muslim Beneficent Society (SBM) first began holding congregation prayers in rented rooms in Av Rangel Pestana and Barão de Duprat in
São Paulo
São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...
. In 1938, they acquired a land and shifted prayers to the Avenue of the State.
In 1940, the society moved permanently to the present premises of the Mesquita Brasil in Av. Do Estado, 5,382, Cambuci, São Paulo and began construction of the first Brazilian mosque. Construction took many years and the mosque was officially inaugurated in 1960. The inauguration was attended by Arab and Brazilian officials, including H.E. Hussein Zulfaqqar Sabry, Deputy Foreign Minister of the United Arab Republic, representing the Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC).
[https://www.facebook.com/Dr.AbdallahshakourKamel/videos/1519646168363795/ ]
See also
*
Islam in Brazil
Brazil is a predominantly Christian country with Islam being a minority religion, first brought by African slaves and then by Lebanese and Syrian immigrants. Due to the secular nature of Brazil's constitution, Muslims are free to proselytiz ...
*
List of mosques in Brazil
This is a list of Mosques in Brazil. It lists mosques (Arabic: ''Masjid'', Portuguese: ''Mesquita'') and Islamic centres in Brazil, South America. It lists some but by no means all of the mosques in Brazil.
There are currently about 150 mosque ...
*
List of mosques in the Americas
This is a list of notable mosques and Islamic centres in the Americas, meaning individual buildings and congregations and administration, including notable current and former examples. This list is sorted alphabetically by country and building na ...
*
List of the oldest mosques
The designation of the oldest mosques in the world requires careful use of definitions, and must be divided into two parts, the oldest in the sense of oldest surviving building, and the oldest in the sense of oldest mosque congregation. Even her ...
References
1929 establishments in Brazil
Brasil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area an ...
Mosques completed in 1929
Religious buildings and structures in São Paulo
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