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Most of the mosques in France were formally garages and old factories that have been turned into mosques. |
The shortage of mosques — or any other alternative place for praying quarters for Muslims — in France has become almost a nightmare for French Muslims.
The first Friday Prayer in Ramadan is a remarkable event for any Muslim, however, hundreds of French Muslims who flooded into Al-Fateh Mosque (located in the division number 18, Paris) to perform this prayer on Sep. 9, had to pray it outside the mosque under the heavy rain.
"It is well known that our region is full of French Muslim residents. Though there are another two mosques around Al-Fateh Mosque, our mosque always faces a good turnout that exceeds the actual area of the mosque," pointed out Al-Haj Karemo, one of the people in charge of Al-Fateh Mosque.
Though the municipality of Al-Fateh Mosque's division agreed to offer more 4,000 meters for building a new mosque, no administrative steps were taken yet.
It is worth mentioning that the challenge of mosques in France lies on the top of the French Council of the Muslim Cult (FCMC)'s agenda.
Mohamad Moussaoui, president of the FCMC, insisted that "What are called mosques now in France do meet Muslims' needs: They are unhealthy, small buildings. And this issue has to be tackled soon."
On the other hand, this Ramadan, France has witnessed the opening of many mosques, one of which is the mosque of Metz city.
According to official statistics, the number of mosques in France has exceeded 1,600. The statistics unveiled that most of the mosques in France were formally garages and old factories that have been turned into mosques.
France is home to some six to seven million Muslims, the largest Muslim minority in Europe.
If you are a French Muslim, kindly share with us your experience in this regard. Is it a real challenge to find a mosque to pray in especially during Ramadan?
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