Speaking to someone from there (hi sabah ;-)), I was surprised to hear that Muslims are forbidden to build mosques there–is that correct or did I mishear? And isn’t that against the European Commission of Human Rights?
Also, in general how do Muslims in Denmark feel about their situation? Are they well-integrated? I ask because I had a Danish acquaintance whose boyfriend was an MP in the liberal party of Denmark and she told me during lunch that Muslims were not very integrated into Danish society compared to what she had seen in Manchester, England. Any comments?
The other reason for these q’s is that scandinavia is usually considered a model of tolerance…
Speaking to someone from there (hi sabah ;-)), I was surprised to hear that Muslims are forbidden to build mosques there--is that correct or did I mishear? And isn't that against the European Commission of Human Rights?
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It seems that Denmark has no building built specifically to be mosques. Mosques there are pre-existing buildings such as former residential building that have simply been converted for use as mosques.
They don't have building with minarets and domes like Muslims can build in the UK (provided the local residents in the vicinity do not veto planning permission like they've done before on occasion)
I attended my cousins wedding in Copenhagen in July. On the Friday we prayed Juma prayers at the mosque, which had a large gathering - inside and out were full. The mosque was a permanent and purpose built structure - hence I'm not sure about the restrictions you mentioned. Perhaps they're not allowed to build them eveywhere.
At the wedding, both bride and bridegroom had their Danish friends / collegues attending. The video walla and photographer were Danes. The wedding was held in a Pakistani restaurant with a hall for such occasions and the valima held in a large school hall.
Most of the elders who'd initially emigrated to Denmark were not professionals (same as UK). Some of the first generation youngsers I met were / had graduated from universities and were/intended to follow professional careers in Denmark.
I know you can't draw absolute conclusions from this very focussed visit, but the impression I came back with was of a small and close nit community - self sufficient and content, living in harmony with the host community. I did ask about post 9/11, racism, inter-communal relations, whilst mixing my zarda with chicken pillau and yoghurt (weddings are the only opportunity I get to do that) and overall the impression was positive. Though the modern day funky hip-hop designs were evident in the attire and hairdo's of the younger generation, I did not witness any signs of ethnic or religious radicalisation - of the sort you often see in the UK. What was also evident amongst the women who attended the wedding was the number who wore the hijab - remarkebly few (as compared to what you might witness at a wedding in Manchester say). So, having to assert your religious identity wasn't an issue (yet, I suppose)...
Going back to your question I guess your MP friend was right to the extent the Pakistani muslim community had up to now been quietly going about their business, not creating great waves. The community was small enough and I guess intergrated enough with the host community to be buffeted against any negative impacts arising from the focus on muslim communities post 9/11.
So - that's my observation from a 4 day visit - I'm sure someone somewher has done a more comprehensive and credible study.
^ Then again, most of the mosques/islamic centers in the west are actually houses/business bought and converted/renovated, even in countries where the construction is allowed.
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*Originally posted by armughal: *
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i thought not being allowed to build mosques wud ultimately mean "no mosques"....
but u r right, maybe they cant build but can bring in a ready-made mosque from somewhere else and just fix it there....
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Not quite. The building that was the first mosque that I used to go to in London was a bar that Muslims had bought and turned into a mosque.
My current local mosque (also a madrassah) is a 40 year old building that was constructed and used as a barracks for the British Army before Muslims bought it and turned it into a mosque.
You don't have to build a mosque - you can turn an existing building into one.
Risk, there’s only one ‘mosque’ in Dk, that belongs to qadiyanis. It was built in seventies something. Other than that, we have cellars, old buildings etc etc. we call them mosques amongst our selves, but they’re registered as culture houses. I don’t know details, but these cultures houses usually get government funds as well, so ppl running these can make pretty good money.
How we feel about this? Well, since mosques in general tend to be quite beautiful, it’d be great to see one in Dk as well. It’d attract lost of ppl, but since we’d be fighting over sunni/shia/wahabi issues, keeping low profile is probably quite good for now. But other than that since you can’t hear azaan anyway, it doesn’t make much difference. I used to study in a cellar that’d be filled with water and dirt occasionally, we still called it mosque, most of our first generation elders and second generation Pakistanis from my city have learnt Islam from that ‘filthy’ place. Structure doesn’t really matter, it’s the message that counts.
How well integrated we are? We’re nothing like UK. We don’t have our own streets etc. But some are doing rather good. But compared to the facilities and a very nice welfare system, we should’ve been doing exceptionally good. They even pay us to study and we still don’t want to :o Situation could’ve been better if we played our cards right. Compared to rest of the EU, Dk is an ideal country.
PS. Hi. And next time I’ll tell you about our graveyards as well. That’s even more interesting :k:
