Reykjavík Grapevine - 16.08.2013, Page 12

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Recently, the Planning Committee of
Reykjavík City Council approved a plot
of land for the building of a mosque large
enough for the Association in Sogamýri.
The new mosque is expected to be 800
square metres, capable of hosting a
range of functions, and with a library at-
tached. The congregation will soon hold
an architectural competition in associa-
tion with the City Council to design the
mosque. We met with Sverrir Agnarson,
an Icelandic Muslim and the Associa-
tion’s chair for the last two years, to dis-
cuss these developments.
How long has it taken the as-
sociation to get the plot for the
new mosque?
The first application was submitted in
1999, and the fact that it has taken 13
years to be approved tells you that some-
thing is not right.
Do you know why it’s taken this
long?
No, but I suppose they do not like Mus-
lims.
And who are they?
The Independence Party, but they are no
longer in power [The Best Party governs
Reykjavík City Council today], and they
have also changed over these years.
First successful application
When did you submit your
newest application?
For the past two years we’ve worked with
the City to find a place for us. Two or
three weeks ago they accepted the plan,
so now we have submitted our applica-
tion, and we will get a formal answer in
two weeks’ time, although everybody
says it has been granted. In 2006, the
religious communities that did not have
buildings were promised plots for them,
as religious communities are entitled to
one piece of land for free. The promise
was made in 2006 to the pagan society,
the Russian Orthodox Church, and the
Buddhists. The three of them have their
land, and now we will get ours.
During this process, has the
Council been trying to accom-
modate your needs?
Yes. It maybe has something to do
with ECRI [the European Commission
against Racism and Intolerance], which
put this application on their watch list
four years ago. ECRI visits European
countries every four years and asks very
simple questions: what’s the situation
with the Jews, women, and Muslims? If
they don’t like the situation, they make
a complaint, which would label Iceland
as being racist and intolerant. And Reyk-
javík doesn’t want this, so that probably
helped the application.
Pan-European problems
What kind of feedback has the
Association received regarding
the mosque?
I think it’s actually been positive. Most
people were happy, but there is a small
group protesting the mosque, and they
have more than two thousand members
on their Facebook page. But all the
people I know are very positive, and I
haven’t had people come up to me with
negative criticism. I do see what the op-
ponents write though, and I think the
guys fighting against this are not very
high class.
Has your congregation run
into discrimination?
Not so much, actually. It’s the same real-
ity as in most of Europe, where it is more
difficult for dark skinned people to get
work. But the Muslims who live here
are pleased with Iceland as Icelanders
are very nice to them. It has been a little
bit difficult being Muslim in the last
few years, and some of the more hateful
speech involves distorting what Islam
actually is.
Female leadership
Muslims have been accused of
not supporting gender equal-
ity. How do you respond to that
accusation?
I just recommend people read the Quran,
where I don’t see any sexism. I know the
verses people like to interpret that way,
but that interpretation is not common
in Islam. You find that interpretation
repeated within small extremist groups,
and from Islamophobists. One of our
five board members is a woman, and we
abide by Icelandic equality laws. If it’s
the law in Iceland, then it’s our law.
Is there then a possibility of get-
ting a female to lead prayer?
If I speak for myself, I would remind
people that there have been sessions in
New York for example, where a woman
has led prayers. It created a lot of fuss,
and discussion, but several of the learned
scholars supported it. I personally have
nothing against it, but I don’t speak for
the community, some of whom would
have difficulty with that.
And are there other members
that would support it?
Yes, some. There is currently a big move-
ment of Islamist Feminism emerging,
and they are making a lot of progress. It
is very debated, but of course the women
will win, as they always do. It’s an inevi-
table change, and there is nothing in the
tenets of Islam that would not allow it.
If a female guest speaker were to come
An Icelandic mosque
with Icelandic values
Where will you be getting the
funds to raise the mosque?
We haven’t started raising money, but
we will be very careful not to risk our
independence with strict conditions of
accepting donations. We want to be an
Icelandic mosque for Icelandic Mus-
lims. We would prefer to get the money
from individuals who give in the name
of Allah and not for themselves or their
ideology. We have to raise somewhere
between 250–350 million ISK, and we’d
like to finish building the mosque in
two years, and given the process we can
probably start building next spring.
Former Mayor Ólafur F. Magnús-
son said that the new mosque
endangered the culture and
safety of Iceland, and others
have gone so far as to say that
it will be a breeding ground for
terrorism in Iceland. How do you
respond to these accusations?
We have been running a mosque in Ice-
land for ten years now, and nobody is
complaining about it. We have not bred
any terrorism or made any problems
for anybody, so I don’t think that will
change. The only thing that will change
is the building. This mosque is now too
small for us. We would also like to have
more space for a library and a place to
host lectures, introducing people to Is-
lam in a better and more efficient way.
All That’s Changing Is The Building
The story of the new mosque in Reykjavík
by Tómas Gabriel Benjamin
The Association of Muslims in Iceland has been cramped in
the first floor of a building in the industrial neighbourhood of
Skeifan for the last decade. Their 170-square-metre mosque
is fitted with a kitchen, a toilet, and a small prayer room,
which barely accommodates the congregation. And when it
comes to special functions such as weddings or funerals, they
must relocate to a chapel in Fossvogur. With 475 members,
the Association is desperately in need of more space.
Iceland | Religion
Axel Sigurðarson
Raising The Mosque
Former chair of the Association
of Muslims Salmann Tamimi tells
us about the application process,
which they reiterated and chased
on a yearly basis. The City Planning
Committee has always been eager
to help, but the application was
stalled year and year.
1999
The first application for a plot of land
is handed to then Mayor of Reyk-
javík Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir.
Originally, the Association looked at
Öskjuhlíð as a possible site.
2004
The Association receives no an-
swer about their suggested plot in
Öskjuhlíð and suggests a plot near
Elliðaárdalur.
2006
The Independence and Progres-
sive parties form a coalition gov-
ernment. Three religious commu-
nities are given vacant plots. The
Association of Muslims in Iceland
is not given one. Mayor Vilhjálmur
Þ. Vilhjálmsson says the plot in El-
liðaárdalur is unsuited for a mosque
and would be a nature reserve.
2008
Ólafur F. Magnússon becomes may-
or of Reykjavík for the Liberal Party.
Five members are kicked out of the
Association of Muslims for negative
and racist attitudes. They form their
own congregation, called the Islam-
ic Cultural Centre of Iceland.
2010
A new coalition of the Best Party
and Social Democratic Alliance
forms City Council.
2011
Reykjavík City Council reaches out
to the Association of Muslims and
starts looking for suitable land.
2013
The Planning Committee of Reyk-
javík City Council approve plot of
land for the building of a Mosque.
Ólafur F. Magnússon and others
condemn the plans.
2015
Expected completion of the
mosque.
Converting To Islam
Sverrir converted to Islam when he
was in his twenties. In 1972, Sver-
rir was working as a horse herder in
Spain, and decided to visit the Hi-
malayas. Whilst in Pakistan he was
introduced to Islam, and was fasci-
nated with the idea of having no im-
age of god, but worshipping some-
thing you didn’t quite understand.
After discussions with mystics, he
was convinced and has remained a
practicing Muslim since.
12The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 12 — 2013