A file photo of the Maulana mosque

ROTTERDAM, December 17 (IslamOnline.net) – A new Islamic center is under construction in Rotterdam, with funds from a United Arab Emirates charity and the support of such prominent officials as the mayor of the Netherlands second largest city.

Maktoum Charity Foundation had decided to pay for the entire cost of the construction, estimated at four million euros, said Ahmed Ashdid, the general supervisor of the project.

The center will encompass a mosque with a 50-meter minaret, an Islamic school and halls for religious and cultural, he told IslamOnline.net.

Ashdid asserted that the center hopes to play a major social and cultural role in the lives of the Muslim population not only in the city but also across the country.

However, it will equally accord attention, he stressed, to a better Muslims’ integration and participation in the Dutch society especially that Rotterdam has a multi-ethnic and –cultural tapestry of 160 nationalities.

"Co-existence in such a multi-cultural society is not easy; but also not impossible. It has become a necessity in a world turned into a small village," Ashdid said.

On the choice of Rotterdam to host the Islamic center, he underlined that the city is a mega industrial and trade hub, and the world’s largest port.

Wide Support

Noticeably, the project has been backed by senior officials in Rotterdam, including mayor Ivo Opstelten and infrastructure and integration affairs officials.

Many parties believing in cultural and civilization co-existence also backed the idea, said Ashdid.

This is the second time local authorities gave a license to building a mosque or an Islamic center with meters-high minarets in the city.

Maulana mosque was opened in the city three years ago.

The official backing of the center's construction shows a keen interest – and awareness - to increase Muslims' integration, promote religious tolerance and end all forms of indiscrimination in the rigidly-secular European country.

In May, the buildings of Ibn Khaldoun Islamic school, south of Rotterdam, had come under attacks.

The attacks were largely blamed on extremist Dutch groups, particularly that several major Dutch towns, which host Muslim and foreign communities, have been theater for anti-Arab and Muslim propaganda since the 9-11 attacks.

Five Dutch people, ageing between 16 and 23, were also arrested in July on charges of setting an Islamic school on fire in Eindhoven, south east of the Netherlands.

Police then said the five were driven by Xenophobia and hatred of Arabs and Muslims in particular, said the police statement.

Holland has 1,000 mosques, most of them in abandoned churches sold or rented to Muslims.