The Rabita Mosque ( no, Rabita-moskéen) is a

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

that is supervised by Basim Ghozlan. It has around 3,000 active members. The mosque was visited by King

Harald V of Norway Harald V ( no, Harald den femte, ; born 21 February 1937) is King of Norway. He acceded to the throne on 17 January 1991. Harald was the third child and only son of King Olav V of Norway and Princess Märtha of Sweden. He was second in the lin ...

and Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway in 2009.

Controversy

The mosque has been criticised for associations with Islamism and extremism. Critics have pointed to a number of jihadists, who originated from the mosque, as well as to the mosque supervisor, Basim Ghozlan, who has allegedly tacitly supported the

Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ( ar, جماعة الإخوان المسلمين'' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan ...

and failed to distance himself from the views of the likes of Yusuf al-Qaradawi. Former members of the mosque include;

Hassan Abdi Dhuhulow Hassan Abdi Dhuhulow (1990 – 22 September 2013) was a Norwegian-Somalian Islamic terrorism, Islamist terrorist and Al-Shabaab (militant group), Al-Shabaab-member who was one of four perpetrators of the 2013 Westgate shopping mall attack in Nair ...

, a perpetrator of the Kenyan

Westgate shopping mall attack On 21 September 2013, four masked gunmen attacked the Westgate shopping mall, an upscale mall in Nairobi, Kenya. There are conflicting reports about the number killed in the attack, since part of the mall collapsed due to a fire that starte ...

and a prolific user on a website hosted by the mosque; Anders Cameroon Østensvig Dale, a Norwegian convert terrorist; and the first Norwegian suicide bomber in Iraq. It is also well known for being the mosque in Norway that has housed the most Norwegian jihadists to

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

and

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. Zaniar Matapour, the perpetrator of the

2022 Oslo shooting On 25 June 2022, two people were killed and twenty-one people were wounded in a mass shooting in Oslo, Norway. Police are treating the incident as an "act of Islamist terrorism". The target may have been the Oslo LGBTQ pride event, which was ho ...

was also seen praying in the mosque on the day of the attack. After being criticised for hosting hate preachers at conferences, the mosque has withdrawn its invitations to certain preachers. In 2013 a 21-year-old woman died of a heart attack in the mosque, reportedly after being subjected to an exorcism, a procedure officially prohibited by the mosque. In 2014, the mosque, which is also known by its organisational name the Islamic Association (Norwegian: ''Det Islamske Forbundet''), was listed as a terrorist organisation by the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

along with mosques in Denmark, Sweden and Finland. The probable cause for the listing was thought to be that the mosque was identified as being a part of the Muslim Brotherhood. The Nordic governments, in a joint diplomatic action, requested answers from the United Arab Emirates for the reasons behind the terrorist listings.

References

External links

Stor norsk moské med skjult økonomi: – En sikkerhetsrisiko
arge Norwegian mosque with hidden economy: – A security risk 2023-12-15. Nettavisen.no {{Coord, 59.9162, 10.7538, region:NO-03, format=dms, display=title Mosques in Norway Mosque-related controversies in Europe Religious buildings and structures in Oslo Islamism in Norway Organizations designated as terrorist by the United Arab Emirates Organizations based in Europe designated as terrorist