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Posted on 07/10/2003 10:03:57 AM PDT by yankeedame
Spain Opens First Mosque in 500 Years
Thursday July 10, 2003 2:39 PM
By DANIEL WOOLLS
Associated Press Writer
GRANADA, Spain (AP) - An imam recited verses from the Quran on Thursday as the former seat of Moorish rule in Spain unveiled its first mosque in more than 500 years.
Dignitaries from Arab and Muslim countries worldwide attended the opening of the Great Mosque of Granada for prayer, crowning a fitful and emotionally charged project that began in 1981.
The hilltop mosque commands a sweeping vista of one of history's prime pieces of real estate: the Alhambra, the reddish 14th-century palace and citadel from which Moorish caliphs governed in splendor until King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella expelled them in 1492, ending 800 years of Muslim rule in southern Spain.
These days, Granada has a Muslim population of about 15,000, one of Spain's largest, but until now its half-dozen mosques were makeshift facilities in apartments, storefronts or garages.
The new, $4.5 million building is the first mosque designed as such to open in Granada since the last Moorish king, Boabdil, rode into exile 511 years ago. His humiliation ended a dynasty that oversaw a culture brimming with art, poetry, music and architecture.
From a mountain vantage point, Boabdil is said to have looked back on the Alhambra one last time, the morning sun shining brightly on its towers and embattlements, and wept.
``When did misfortune ever equal mine?'' he wailed from a spot now known as The Pass of the Moor's Sigh.
The new mosque is a white brick building with a red tile roof and thick, square minaret, all nudged between a convent of cloistered nuns and a Roman Catholic church. The ceremony was held in blazing heat in a garden full of pink and purple touch-me-nots, orange chrysanthemums and miniature palm trees.
``I want to praise and thank God, who let us finish this project and launch a new and fascinating era that begins today,'' Malik Abderrahman Ruiz, president of the foundation that runs the mosque, told several hundred people as the mosque opened.
Spain's Muslims say that after decades of keeping their faith quiet in a predominantly Roman Catholic country, they are growing in both numbers and transparency. A government census says there are about 500,000 Muslims among Spain's 40 million people.
``Islam has gone from being something hidden or invisible in Spanish society to something visible,'' community spokesman Abdul Haqq Salaberria said.
The mosque property in the picturesque Albaicin, the old Moorish quarter of Granada, was purchased with Libyan money in 1981, six years after the death of Gen. Francisco Franco.
But the project was delayed for years by lawsuits from local residents, the discovery of Roman ruins at the site and the death of King Hassan II of Morocco, one of its benefactors.
Ground was broken in 1998. About half the construction cost were financed by the United Arab Emirates.
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Millions of Spaniards suffered under the Moslem yoke for six hundred years before they were able to finally get their country back from these animals.
If you think the Muslims were kind to non-Muslims in the apparent Golden Age that was Muslim Spain you need to stop smoking crack.
I may not be too comfortable, but it's happening and we might as well just adapt.
You adapt all you want. Sit back and enjoy the terrorist attacks, the suicide bombings and the economic misery that comes with being ruled by Muslims.
Just don't get in my way as I resist.
When reached for comment, the head Cleric stated:
"We hope in the next few years to petition the government to ban the evil Roman Catholic Church and to be front and center of the stoning movement of any and all Christians. Praise be to Allah! Islam is peace!"
A modern building with a mineret, that wasn't a mosque?
Ummm, all of us here in the city did the same thing, so don't go looking for a medal.
I will continue to fight both legal and illegal immigration, support the deportation of criminal aliens, and support the surveillance of and destruction of terrorist cells.
It's your best buddies, the Muslims, who are into bombing stuff. Not me.
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