Gothenburg Mosque () is a

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

located at the foot of Ramberget on

Hisingen Hisingen () is the fifth-largest island of Sweden (after Gotland, Öland, Södertörn and Orust), with an area of . It is a river island, formed by the split of the Göta Älv at Bohus Fortress, Bohus, and is defined to the east and south by t ...

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

, Sweden. The construction of the mosque was entirely funded by Saudi Arabia and is run by the Swedish Muslim Foundation (SMS). It was inaugurated 16 June 2011. The mosque cost 67 million

Swedish krona The krona (; plural: ''kronor''; sign: kr; code: SEK) is the currency of Sweden. Both the ISO code "SEK" and currency sign "kr" are in common use for the krona; the former precedes or follows the value, the latter usually follows it but, espec ...

to build and is 2000 square meters. The construction of the mosque has been met with demonstrations from right-wing activists. The Saudi finance minister Dr. Abu Rachman al Seid said on the inauguration that "we do this out of kindness - and because we can afford it". The board members of the mosque and Saudi refused to be interviewed by reports from the Swedish investigative journalism television program

Uppdrag Granskning ''Uppdrag granskning'' (English name: ''Mission: Investigate'') is a Swedish television program focusing on investigative journalism Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of in ...

in conjunction with the inauguration. The imam Sheikh Abdul Rashid Mohamed was trained in Saudi Arabia. In a 2013 Swedish Television interview with

hidden camera A hidden camera or spy camera is a camera used to photograph or record subjects, often people, without their knowledge. The camera may be considered "hidden" because it is not visible to the subject being filmed, or is disguised as another obje ...

he stated that

polygamy Polygamy (from Late Greek , "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marriage, marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, it is called polygyny. When a woman is married to more tha ...

is allowed under certain conditions and that wives cannot refuse to have sex with their husbands unless they were ill. Chairman Ahmed Al-Mofty stated in a follow-up interview with

Göteborgs-Posten (), abbreviated GP, is a major Swedish language, Swedish-language daily newspaper published in Gothenburg, Sweden. History and profile was first published in 1813, but ceased publication in 1822. It re-appeared in 1850. Publication seven day ...

that Rashid had advised what Islamic tradition is and that his advice was not legally binding. The building is designed by Björn Sahlqvist, who wanted to design a mosque with a Scandinavian touch with a lot of light and space. There is a silent square

minaret A minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (''adhan'') from a muezzin, but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can h ...

and prayer rooms for men and women, conference rooms, offices, lecture halls, kitchen and an ablution area.

IIF

''Islamiska informationsföreningen'' (IIF) (tr: Islamic information society) was, according to Swedish Radio in 2013, using the mosque premises while receiving funding from

Gothenburg Municipality Gothenburg Municipality ( or ) is a municipality in Västra Götaland County in western Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Gothenburg. When the first Swedish local government acts were implemented in 1863 the City of Gothenburg, founde ...

. In 1986 IIF started publishing the magazine named ''Salaam''. It published texts by

Muslim brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ('' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar, Imam and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna in 1928. Al-Banna's teachings s ...

ideologues

Sayyid Qutb Sayyid Ibrahim Husayn Shadhili Qutb (9 October 190629 August 1966) was an Egyptian political theorist and revolutionary who was a leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood. As the author of 24 books, with around 30 books unpublished for differe ...

and Muhammad Qutb translated into Swedish. A significant number of its texts were written by female converts to Islam. IIF was in 1995 a member association of the umbrella organisation

Muslim Council of Sweden The Muslim Council of Sweden (, SMR) was an umbrella organisation of Islamic organisations in Sweden. It was founded in 1990 by representatives of the United Islamic Parishes in Sweden (, FIFS) and the Muslim Association of Sweden (, SMuF). The ...

. IIF collaborated with the Saudi organisation

World Assembly of Muslim Youth The World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) is an international Islamic educational organization whose stated purpose is to "preserve the identity of Muslim youth and help overcome the problems they face in modern society". Reportedly the world's ...

(WAMY) to translate Arabic texts into Swedish and sold literature from

The Islamic Foundation The Islamic Foundation (, also called the Islamic Foundation UK) is Jamaat-e-Islami's research and publishing house in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1973 by two high-ranking Pakistani activists of Jamaat-e-Islami, Khurshid Ahmad a ...

, International Islamic Federation of Student Organizations (IIFSO) and WAMY.

Images

File:Inside of Gothenburg Mosque.jpg, alt=Inside of Gothenburg Mosque, Inside of Gothenburg Mosque File:Goteborg meczet.jpg, Gothenburg Mosque

References

External links

* {{Mosques in Sweden Mosques in Sweden Mosques completed in 2011 2011 establishments in Sweden Hisingen Religious buildings and structures in Gothenburg 21st-century mosques in Europe Mosque buildings with minarets in Europe Sunni mosques in Europe 21st-century establishments in Västra Götaland County

IIF

Images

See also

References

External links