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'Allah Akbar' - Muslims protest closure of mosques

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'Friday prayer is very important to us so today we have come to the Colosseum. Otherwise where else can we pray?'

Hundreds of Muslims held a peaceful protest and knelt to pray beside Rome's Colosseum Friday to protest the closure of unlicensed mosques around the country.

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Highlights

By Kenya Sinclair (CALIFORNIA NETWORK)
Catholic Online (https://www.catholic.org)
10/23/2016 (7 years ago)

Published in Europe

Keywords: Muslim, mosques, radicalized, Rome, Colesseum

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Muslims knelt on the ground to cry "Allah Akbar," meaning "God is great."

Their peaceful protest was in regards to unlicensed mosques getting closed down across Rome.


The protest, organized by the Bangladesh group Dhuumcatu, demanded religious freedom.

Millions of Muslims live in Rome but few of their mosques have been officially registered with the Italian government, leaving parishioners to worship in houses and Islamic cultural centers.

The primary reason illicit mosques get closed down is the fear of radicalization.

Italy's Interior Minister, Angelino Alfano, stated in August that "mini mosques in garages" shouldn't be allowed to continue, particularly because they are difficult to monitor, which raises the risk of radicalization.

The fear of radicalization is real, with estimates of hundreds of thousands of people converting to Islam each year.

More and more people have been abandoning reason, their friends, family and their countries to join the Islamic State, where nothing but death, hatred and Sharia Law are enforced.

Despite concerns, the Dhuumcatu Association has complained officials have closed down three mosques in Rome within the past few months.


Daily Mail reported Sikdir Bulbul, a 41-year-old Italian citizen who lived in Rome for 16 years, believes the mosques should never have been limited or shut down.

"Friday prayer is very important to us," he explained, "so today we have come to the Colosseum. Otherwise where else can we pray?"

The Dhuumcatu Association's Facebook page says there needs to be clear rules to establish mosques.

It's statement read: "We are sick of the criminalisation of our places of worship. There are no relevant regulations, and we cannot invent solutions independently of the authorities."

The Dhuumcatu Association has called City Hall to intervene.

According to Aljazeera, Francesco Tieri, a converted Muslim who acts as a coordinator for a number of Islamic groups, claimed: "We feel people are pointing the finger at us.

"There is no political will to recognise that we are here and that we are a peaceful community. We are forced to rent places to pray - which for us is like breathing air. If we can't do it, we die."

Italy does not legally recognize Islam as an official religion, leaving over 1 million Muslims with very few places to legally practice their faith.

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