Belgian Muslim Body Wants Mosques Recognition

A file photo of Al-Itassam Mosque in the eastern Belgian city of Liege.

Akhtar Imran, a MEC member, told the Iranian News Agency (IRNA) that the government only recognizes the mosque of the Islamic Center.

"We want the government to recognize other mosques also," he said.

Coskun Beyazgul, a 29-year-old of Turkish origin, presented to the press on Wednesday, October 26, the new 17 members of the MEC, which he chairs.

He told reporters they will also exert efforts to correct the image of Islam in the country through dialogue.

Beyazgul was hopeful to turn the MEC into an active body in solving problems of the Muslim minority in Belgium.

The Muslim body's 68-member General Assembly was elected in March for a five-year term. It comprises 40 Turks, 20 Moroccans, two Belgian reverts, three Pakistanis, two Albanians and one Algerian.

On October 2, the assembly elected the 17-member MEC which features eight Turks, six Moroccans, two Pakistanis and one Albanian.

First established in 1998, the MEC receives 1.18 million euros from the government yearly to look after the administrative affairs of the Muslim community. It has no say in religious matters.

Training

Imran said the Muslim body will focus on training home-gown imams.

But for a transitional period, they have proposed that imams from other Muslims countries like Egypt, Morocco, Turkey be engaged.

The issue of imams has recently taken central stage in several European countries.

British Muslims have launched the first ever National Advisory Council of Imams and Mosques to nurture home-grown imams and set standards for preachers.

The French government has put forward an initiative under which imams will study a miscellany of subjects on Islam and the history of secularism in the European country.

Jean Jacques Rousseau’s 1762 Le Contract Social (the social contract), the ideas of Baron de Montesquieu and Ibn Kathir’s interpretation of the Noble Qur’an are among the mandatory subjects.

German Integration Minister Marieluise Beck has released a 20-point strategy recommending that imams coming to Germany should have a knowledge of the German language and society.

Islam was recognized in Belgium in 1974.

Belgian Muslims are estimated at 450,000 – out of a 10-million-population – about half of them are from Moroccan origins, while 120,000 are from Turkish origins.

There are about 380 mosques in Belgium. The oldest of these is the Saudi-funded Islamic Centre in Brussels, which dates back to 1968.