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- ‘Italy is a country of tolerance and coexistence,’ Muslim World League chief says at event attended by Arab News
- Islamic community has to leave building that hosts city mosque due to owner’s wish to terminate contract
ROME: The secretary-general of the Muslim World League has offered economic support to the Islamic community in Florence to buy a building to host a new Center.
“If the Islamic community of Florence officially asks for funds for the new mosque, we will study how to support it financially,” Muhammad bin Abdul Karim Al-Issa said at an event in the Italian city attended by Arab News. He met with Mayor Dario Nardella and local Imam Izzeddin Elzir.
Some 30,000 Muslims live in Florence. The Islamic community has to leave the building where the city mosque is currently hosted due to the property owner’s wish to terminate the contract.
The mosque will be relocated to a former bank only a stone’s throw away from the current location. The new property was found after a long negotiation due to the high cost of real estate in Florence.
It will cost approximately €1.2 million ($1.29 million). More money will be needed to renovate the building.
Al-Issa said more Islamic places of worship in Florence could be financed by Saudi Arabia, as happened with the Great Mosque in Rome.
Italy’s largest Islamic place of worship, the Great Mosque was built thanks to a donation from the late King Faisal.
“We will support the Islamic community in Florence according to its will,” Al-Issa said. “Italy is a country of tolerance and coexistence, it has a great constitution, a great people, it is a country that we feel very close to. Florence is the city of dialogue between cultures and faiths.”