Rome, 21 Muharram 1438/22 October 2016 (MINA) – Hundreds of Muslims prayed in front of Rome’s Colosseum on Friday in protest at the closure of unofficial mosques, Anadolu reported.
They called on city authorities to protect their religious rights and demanded legal status for prayer rooms in a country where only a small number of mosques are officially registered.
Francesco Terri, a spokesman for the Lazio Muslim Association, said the community wanted urgent legal regulation to allow Italy’s 1.6 million Muslims to worship at officially recognized mosques.
Even though their number is quite large, Italy only has 8 mosques.
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By comparison, France, which has a Muslim population three to four times bigger than Italy’s, has 2,200 mosques, while the UK, with a Muslim population about twice the size of Italy’s, has 1,500.
Most prayers take place in houses and Islamic cultural centres – a development that some right-wing politicians have said makes them difficult to monitor, raising the risk of “radicalisation”.
Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said in August that “mini mosques in garages” should not be allowed.
Right-wing parties have called for a blanket ban on any mosques built with funds from donors outside of Italy.
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Rome is home to the biggest mosque in the western world, but proposals to construct traditional-style mosques elsewhere have frequently run into opposition from local councils. (T/R07/R01)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
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