HANOVER,
Germany, March 1, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – As part of a plan to
renovate mosques in the German city, construction works get underway
this month to build a dome and two minarets in the Aya Sofia mosque in
Hanover, making the worship place the first with the traditional shape
of mosques in the city.
The
height of the mosque’s two minarets will be four meters, with a
six-meter-diameter dome.
Melee
Gorsh association (Milli Gorus), the biggest Islamic body in Germany, has filed a
request with the Hanover construction department for a license to
renovate the mosque.
As
soon as it received the license, the association brought the news to
the 500,000 strong Muslim minority in the city.
The
Aya Sofia mosque in Hanover was named after the famous Turkish mosque
of Aya Sofia, highlighting memories of the Turkish minority in Germany
about the bright history during which the famous mosque was
established.
In
addition to the Aya Sofia mosque, there are some seven other Muslim worship
places in the city.
The
number of mosques with domes and minarets reaches more than 140
mosques across Germany.
Meeting
Location
Since
it was built, the Aya Sofia mosque, the second biggest worship place
in the city, has become a meeting location of the Muslim minority in
the German city to discuss different cultural topics.
Later,
a praying hall was added to the place. But in 1982, the place was
turned into a mosque.
With
the increasing numbers of the Muslim minority in the city, Hanover
Muslims decided in 1994 to build an Islamic center of their own.
They
built the World Islamic Center with an annex mosque given the name of
the Ummah (nation) mosque.
With
the construction of the Islamic center, the Muslim minority in Hanover
has become able to listen to the Friday sermons in German and Arabic.
The
majority of the Hanover mosques are supervised by the Turkish minority
in the city.
The
Melee Gorsh association, whose members are estimated at 210,000, are
supervising some 514 mosques all over the country.
It
also provides for many other Muslim worship places in other European
countries such as Austria, Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden and
Switzerland.
The
body was established in 1973 by Turkish workers in the city under the
name of “The Islamic Society of Hanover Turks”.
Years
later, the body joined the Cologne Muslim minority “Melee Gorsh”.
Mosques
in Germany
Under
the German constitution, the acknowledged Islamic bodies have the
right to receive government assistance to establish Islamic centers in
the country.
There
are 2,200 mosques and praying rooms in Germany, most of which are
built by Turkish bodies. The oldest mosque in Germany was built in
Berlin in 1924.
The
biggest mosque in the European country was built in 1995 in Mannheim
with a capacity of 1,500 worshipers.
Work
is in full swing in Dusiburg to build Germany’s biggest mosque
funded by the government, the European Union and Muslim bodies in the
north-central European country.
The
construction of the mosque is expected to be completed by early 2007.
The mosque is designed to have a capacity of 3,000 people.
Islam
comes third in Germany after Protestant and Catholic Christianity.
There
are some 3.4 million Muslims in the country, including 220,000 in
Berlin. An estimated two thirds of them are of Turkish origin.
