After a decade-long struggle and numerous false starts, the Muslim community in Italy has finally succeeded in laying the foundation of a mosque in the heart of the Roman Catholic world.

The mosque is being built on Mont Antenna in the fashionable Parioli section of Rome. The construction—which may cost $30m —begins this summer, and is likely to be completed in three years. Rome has 917 Roman Catholic churches, several Protestant, Greek and Russian Orthodox churches and eight synagogues. At present the only mosque in Italy is in Catania, Sicily. Muslims in Italy number around 200,000, while in Rome alone there are at least 35,000. The majority of Muslims in Italy are transient labourers.

In 1973 the application for development of the Islamic Cultural Centre was referred to the Vatican, which announced in 1974 that Pope Paul VI had no objections to a mosque in Rome. Muslims were offered one of the two dozen churches in Rome that have been closed due to population shifts.

Abolghassam Amini, an Iranian and the secretary general of the Islamic Cultural Centre, said that the project then ran into problems with the ministry of fine arts, which objected to making any changes to historic buildings. Rome’s administration thereupon provided a 7.4 acre undeveloped piece of land to be used for the mosque, and Muslim countries donated $12m for the construction.

However, the project still could not start because of objections from local residents. Approval was given by the authorities when the Centre made it known that two-thirds of the land would be used for a park open to the public, that 120 trees would be planted, and that a lighted access road would be built to route mosque traffic away from heavily populated areas to reduce traffic noise.

The mosque will accommodate 2,000 people and will have one of the largest Muslim libraries in the West and a 500-seat auditorium.  □

     Courtesy ARABIA. August, 1984