VIENNA, December 11 (IslamOnline.net) - Austrian Muslims enjoy legal rights and privileges unmatched by those occasionally offered larger Muslim populations in other European countries.

Amr Al-Rawi, a member of Vienna’s parliament and the Islamic Religious Authority’s official in charge of the integration file, attributed the harmony between the authorities and the Muslim community to the latter’s well-organization and the official recognition of Islam by the state decades ago.

Speaking to IslamOnline.net, days after the authority marked its silver jubilee, Rawi said Muslim women, for instance, are allowed to wear hijab and Islam is taught in state schools.

Islam, which was officially acknowledged in Austria in 1908, is considered the second religion in the country after Catholicism and Muslims, estimated at nearly half a million, make up some 6 per cent of the country’s eight-million population.

On the IRA’s achievements for the Muslim community, Rawi said it established the Islamic academy in Vienna from which highly-qualified teachers graduate every year to cater for the educational needs of the Muslim students.

According to recent estimates, there are some 40,000 Muslim students enrolled at public schools.

Muslims can now have halal meat, thanks to the efforts of the authority, Rawi added.

He said they are now seeking the government’s support for official holidays on Muslim events and the appointment of chaplains for the Muslims serving in the army.

Rawi hoped the reconstruction of the first Muslim cemetery in the country on an area of 34,000 square meters would be completed in the near future.

Established in 1979, the IRA functions as the religious and spiritual representative of Muslims in Austria.

Along with the head of state, the gala was attended by a cohort of Austrian officials and dignitaries, chiefly the speaker of parliament and Minister of Education, Culture and Science Elizabeth Gehrer in addition to representatives of religious bodies and Arab diplomatic missions in the country.

A law issued in 1867, which guaranteed respect for all religions, gave Muslims the right to establish mosques and practice their religion in Austria, according to the International Politics Journal (IPJ), an appendix released monthly by Egypt’s leading newspaper Al-Ahram.

However, Muslim rights in the country were enhanced by the signing of the Saint-Germain agreement in 1919, in which the Austrian government pledged its protection for minorities and affirmed the right of each citizen to assume important national posts regardless of his/her religious or ethnic backgrounds.

According to the IPJ, the country’s first mosque was built in Vienna in 1878 with the government’s assistance to service Muslims enlisted in the army.