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Source: www.tovima.gr

By Achilles Hekimoglou 21^st of November 2010

Anna Stamou

One of the leading international Muslim awards of Europe was recently given to a Greek lady. The public relations manager of the Muslim Association of Greece miss Anna Stamou is included in the 10 Muslim ladies with the greater and most positive influence in Europe, next to personages like the famous Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid! Miss Stamou found herself among the top 10 of the female aspect’s expression of the modern, moderate Islam, receiving a relevant award by the European Muslim Professionals Network (CEDAR), which is supported by the well known Institute of Strategic Dialogue, also known as the “Three Club”. The award ceremony , which took place three weeks ago in Madrid, is an important step for Greece so as to have a voice on the continuously widening circle of influence on the European Muslims, of the importance of whom has been stated over the last few years by numerous analysts of the international relations of our country.

Miss Stamou refers on the nowadays big issue that preoccupies the mind of thousands of Greeks and foreign Muslims, meaning the creation of an Islamic prayer site and cemetery in the capital. “We had suggested creating a simple, functional infrastructure that will be aesthetically compatible with the surrounding area. We do not imagine any luxuries just a functional prayer site.” And at the same time she criticizes the new phenomenon of islamophobia in Greece, characterising it as temporal and of ephemeral consuming. “In the past there were the communists, today are the Muslims. In a few time though, this will no longer have any effect and shall be forgotten” she underlines

In addition, she highlights that the lack of a Mosque is not the only deficiency, but there is also the lack of accredited officially appointed Imams in our country. “The imam –as well as the priest and the spiritual instructors-aids with his consultation people or couples who face problems, seek for psychological support or they confront moral dilemmas. Furthermore, we do have mixed weddings, where so many women ignore their rights. This is a tragedy.” She adds that it is necessary to create all the required institutions with Greek and not with foreign funds. “In such cases the financial contributor, has the upper hand. We have seen countries such as Holland and Great Britain to establish the state’s control.”

Miss Stamou became a Muslim six years ago, as she found answers for her inner philosophical quests. “My quest has been long, I was always seeking answers and I always had answered questions, not necessarily of theological nature. In my quest of truth, I could not get satisfactory answers. Thus, I consulted several philosophical schools; I dealt deeply with Pythagoras, through whom I found myself embracing Islam. “she states. During this quest she met her current husband, with whom they jointed as volunteers the organisation “Doctors of the World”, during the war in Iraq. Then was the time when she came into closer contact with Islam, and she started researching deeper to its teachings. “I thought due to the knowledge I have acquired from school that this is an inferior and distorted religion. Islam though had given me answers. I said then to myself that I should learn more about this religion. Many of the questions I had, started sorting themselves out with a simplicity that was really annoying!” she states. Miss Stamou underlines that due to the historical facts in our country many people confuse Muslims with Turkey, a thing she says it is wrong. “I have been a Muslim for so many years and I have learnt the word bayram last year! During my way to Islam, I have never met Turkey. The European citizen who becomes Muslim he does not obtain knowledge from the Turks, but from the Arabs, following Arab teachers” she underlines. “In Europe those who embrace Islam learn from English and French sources. Though there are thousands Greek Muslims, I do not understand why there are not any published book in Greek. Thankfully, we published five books.” She says.

She as well says that her transition from Christianity to Islam was escorted by acceptance from the side of family and her friends.”I have not met any negative reactions. Some people might have questions or they might not like it. But what could I do? Anyhow, they did not like yoga either!  I did not change my social behaviour, I just wore a head scarf!” she narrates.

Miss Stamou is 37 years old and she was born in Athens, one month after the riot of Polytechneio. “My mother, being eight months pregnant to me, was watching the facts from the roof of our house.” She was born and bred in Ilioupolis, studied Business administration and Economics, though she professionally dealt with sign language but also with yoga, which she still teaches! The awarded Greek lady, is married with the chairman of the Muslim Association of Greece, Mr. Elgandhour , is a mother of two children , and she is the public relations manager of the previously referred association. “A few years ago, I had an office for the young Muslims, though I have translated from English language books relevant with Islam” she states. Though for many years, her main occupation was the family business, an old small factory of athletic wear that their parents had, which due to the recession shut down.

“Wearing hijab is a matter of choice”

The issue of hijab consists an important issue for many countries, for Miss Stamou though things are quite simple.

Miss Stamou holding a tray on her hands she treats guests during Ramadan

“Hijab is a part of the faith, a part you can choose to follow or not. It is your choice” she adds. Though, as she highlights, it has not only a social standing, as anyone who does an internal request, will also find other things. “The hijab is a matter of choice. But, anywhere where is enforced, is a wrongdoing. Certainly, in my opinion, when it is exposed as a symbol of oppression, is wrong. I have seen women who fight for their right to wear it” she states.

Miss Stamou refers on her award with satisfaction. “There were ten awards given, all of them equally given. I was awarded due to my actions through the Muslim Association to claim an Islamic prayer site and a cemetery but also for my positive contribution in society. The European Muslim Professionals Network (CEDAR) promotes education, progress, business, creativity, arts and sciences. It is not a religious institution” she highlights.

As she says, the basis of all the issues is the peaceful coexistence and tolerance. “During Ramadan, we eat together with our Christian friends; this is something that is not easily found in Europe. Furthermore, my daughter loves and is eager for Christmas. So they last approximately up… to Easter!” she concludes.

By Niki Kitsantonis

ATHENS — A wave of violent attacks against immigrants by suspected right-wing extremists has put Muslims and the police on alert in rundown parts of Athens with burgeoning migrant populations.

Immigrants have been beaten and stabbed near central squares, and several makeshift mosques have been burned and vandalized. In the most grievous attack, at the end of October, the assailants locked the door of a basement prayer site and hurled firebombs through the windows, seriously wounding four worshipers.

“The attacks are constant — I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Naim Elghandour, who moved to Athens from Egypt in the 1970s and now heads the Muslim Association of Greece. “I used to be treated like an equal. Now I’m getting death threats.”

Tensions in neglected, crime-ridden parts of Athens with growing immigrant communities have been mounting over the past two years. Highlighting expanding public discontent, the extreme right-wing group Chrysi Avgi, or “Golden Dawn,” won its first ever seat on the Athens City Council in local elections three weeks ago. The group mustered strong support in working-class neighborhoods in the capital and elsewhere in Greece by describing migrants as a drain on the economy, which is reeling from a debt crisis, and calling for immediate deportations.

The Greek news media linked the group to the violence after a spray-painted cross merged with a circle — a symbol used by extreme rightists worldwide — was found on the wall of a firebombed prayer site. But the police have not confirmed a connection, saying no arrests have been made. The group did not respond to requests for comment.

Thanassis Kokkalakis, a police spokesman, said the problem was complex. He said that while “extremist elements” were believed to be behind certain attacks, there was also violence between migrants of different ethnic origins, muggings of Greeks by poverty-stricken foreigners and clashes between extreme rightists and left-wing protesters.

“All this chaos stems from a constantly growing population of immigrants in these areas,” said Mr. Kokkalakis, noting that about 150 migrants arrived in Athens daily despite the mobilization of European Union guards in early November at Greece’s land border with Turkey. “The upheaval has fueled aggravation among residents, which is being exploited by extremist groups.”

The residents of the problem areas are divided: Some want dialogue and better policing, while others are taking matters into their own hands. Elderly and middle-aged residents often sit in local squares during the daytime, shouting abusive statements at migrants when they go by. Small gangs of teenagers stalk the neighborhoods by night, but it remains unclear if they are locals or visiting extremists.

The police have stepped up patrols following reports of attacks by vigilantes who, locals say, are as young as 14. “I saw three kids bashing an Afghan man with wooden poles until blood ran down his face,” said Muhammad, the Syrian manager of a convenience store in Aghios Panteleimonas, once a lively neighborhood, now a no-go zone. Like other migrants living in the area, he would not give his surname for fear of reprisals.

The exact number of attacks remains unclear. “The victims are usually too scared to go to police,” said Thanassis Kourkoulas, a spokesman for Deport Racism, a group that offers targeted migrants advice and support.

Others say this reflects a general trend in Europe. “Hate crimes against Muslims are underreported and underrecorded,” said Taskin Soykan, who advises the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe on combating racial intolerance.

The attacks in Greece mirror similar incidents in other European countries, including Switzerland, where a referendum last November led to a ban on the construction of minarets on mosques, and in France and Italy, where the authorities have deported Roma residents and immigrants.

“The difference in Italy is that most of the attacks were in the provinces, while in Greece they are in the heart of the capital, which is potentially far more explosive,” Liz Fekete of the Institute of Race Relations in London said. “The common factor is the formation of vigilante groups, egged on by the far right.”

Angry protesters, including some thought to be right-wing extremists, had to be restrained by the police last month when thousands of Muslims congregated in several Athens squares for a religious festival. At one site, officers fired tear gas to disperse a small group of demonstrators, who continued their protest from the balconies of apartment complexes, pelting worshipers with eggs and playing loud music to disturb the prayers.

The day after the protests, government officials said a stalled project to build an official mosque was back on track. Athens is the only capital of the original 15 E.U. member states to lack a state-approved mosque.

Although the country’s influential Orthodox Church has given its support to the project, opinion polls show that half of Athens’s five million residents oppose the creation of a mosque to serve the capital’s Muslim community, which numbers about 500,000.

“A large mosque with minarets in the city center will be a provocation,” said Dimitrios Pipikios, the head of a residents’ group in Aghios Panteleimonas, where Chrysi Avgi drew 20 percent of the vote in recent elections.

Mr. Pipikios said the only way to ease tensions was to deport immigrants. “There is no room for us all,” he said, adding that extreme rightists were patrolling the area “because the police are not doing their job.”

Other residents said they felt intimidated. “The situation is totally out of control,” said Maria Kanellopoulou, who wants not deportations but the better social integration of immigrants.

The local authorities are determined to tackle the problem, said a spokesman for Giorgos Kaminis, the newly elected mayor of Athens.

“Chasing immigrants away from city squares is an established technique of extreme rightists, and we are seeking advice on how to deal with it,” said the spokesman, Takis Kampilis, who has approached the municipal authorities in Germany, who have averted similar campaigns by neo-Nazis. The new mayor is also planning to improve health care and housing for migrants and organize street markets where they can legitimately sell wares rather than touting illegally on street corners.

Ms. Fekete said increasing integration would help, but to stamp out extreme violence, local and central governments must condemn it in strong terms. “If the authorities do not speak out, public tolerance of the violence will grow,” she said. “This is a wake-up call.”

Questions were racing through my mind.  Does this makes me a Muslim? What is a Muslim after all? And is it easy to become one? And what happens after that? What if I regret?

It was minutes after my shahada (my declaration of the Islamic faith), a few weeks ago.

It took me almost 9 years to believe there is actually a God and choose Islam as the way to worship Him.  But why was that? Having a very hard life so far, full of personal traumatic experiences of which I could not be responsible for during childhood, puberty and adolescence, a person does not have the right to make his own choices by law, I was led to disappointment.

I almost completely rejected the presence of God or of any Divinity in my life.

Although I was completely dissatisfied by the behaviour of the clergy in Greece and still having the words of the burial service which says “rest your servant ignoring all sins,” I decided to start reading about religion.

Feeling tormented, tired and a bit desperate to find answers to my questions, I choose to read religion initially and then philosophy and history of sciences instead of trying to find my way through fortune tellers or tarot readers, drugs or alcohol.

No matter how hard someone tries to numb himself so he doesn’t feel any pain, the pain will always be there, waiting to be confronted. Being deeply ethical and raised with the traditional values of a middle class Greek family , values of honesty, pride and dignity, I did not want to be part of any religious or philosophical group just to satisfy my needs for warmth and affection. And I definitely, loved and honoured my Greek cultural identity and I did not want to imitate or fake any other identity or nationality.

I started researching Christianity and mainly the Orthodox Dogma, then Judaism and Buddhism and finally Islam. I started gradually believing in God, my faith becoming stronger with time. At some point I started having questions about the Trinity, questions for which I found the answers in Islam.

What I realised is that Islam is the religion that closes the circle of Divine revelations. Islam means peace and Muslim means the person who offers himself to God and God only, with no remorse or personal benefit. Allah is not a new invention, it’s just the Arabic word for God, the half moon is not a symbol of blood bathing and revenge but is a reminder that Muslim people calculate the time based on the moon rather than the sun.

At this point I seriously started to consider myself as a believer rather than an agnostic. In the meantime, I moved to United Kingdom, to further educate myself though postgraduate studies. I do not know if it was a sign but while I was in UK, I kept meeting really nice people, the majority of them being Muslims, and I ended up marrying one of them.

I continued reading more and more and was becoming focused on Islam this time. Though not only reading, watching documentaries, attending Islamic lectures, going to Islamic museums, attending Islamic classes.

And there comes the questioning. Do I want to be part of a religion that has so many different variations of interpretation of its Holy Book? Would I want to be part of a group that would be a religious minority in my country? Would I want to be part of a religious group where most people, of the ones I have met at least, are paying attention just to the rules of worship and not the worship itself? Or would I want to be part of a religion which is used by its own followers to inspire hate and hostility?

I got again disappointed but this time not by the religion itself or the philosophy itself or from the Quran but from the followers. And then I realised that I cannot blame the religion itself since I found the answers to my questions, from its followers. I decided to start living as a Muslim for a period of time, to see what it takes and see if it is really so hard. As it is stated in Quran, men and women were created equally having their own free will.

But what does it mean to live as a Muslim? Wearing an abaya and niqaab? Praying 10 times a day? Fasting strictly during Ramadan? Staying at home and having loads of children? Avoiding any kind of joyful experience just in case you do something forbidden? Certainly not, in my opinion.

Islam is not a strict system of rules or a kind of imprisonment. Doing good deeds every single day, trying to avoid bad actions, praying as much as you can, fasting as much as you can, showing love and compassion and always fighting peacefully to improve yourself, progressing and evolving in knowledge day by day, trying your best every single day, this is what it takes to be a Muslim.

I realised that I could live as a Muslim, I just changed the way and the frequency of my prayers, I stopped completely eating pork or drinking alcohol and I wore a headscarf. That’s all. So after this so long journey, I decided to have my shahada done admitting firstly to myself that ‘There is no god but Allah (God), and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah (God).

Written by:

Myrto Z.

Athens, Greece

Translation© Muslim Association of Greece

By Modestos Siotos

A week and a day after the election of a neo-Nazi in the city council of Athens, 13.000 Muslims prayed just to show their attitude in several areas of the city for the manifestation of Qurban Bayram or Eid Al Adha (our Islamic language is not that good yet but this will get better in time), the feast in other words for the sacrifice of Abraham’s son.

Only in the area of Propylaia over 1.000 gathered for the prayer, who laid sheets and took their shoes off, they prayed under the stare of an imam by the Islamic University of Egypt. The Athenians, astonished either enjoyed this cultural experience thinking “we are living in a beautiful city!” or they cursed reminiscing the years of 1821’s where the only Muslim is Athens, was the governor of the traditional village of that times.

In Attica square though, where fortunately there are still true Greeks, the Muslims prayed under the listening of “Greek popular music” (it has not been cleared out yet whether there were traditional Greek songs that were used for bullying or Natasha Theodoridou, who has a great carrier in Africa, so the music was a gift by a fellow Greek.) In the manifestation, members of the organisation Chrisi Augi tried to participate, but the fascist police forces did not allow so. Head of this group was the member of the city’s council N. Michaloliakos. By the way, he realises that the immigrants are the “earth’s damned people” and knowing that in Athens, the people are famished, the Leader volunteered to command his followers to throw poached eggs and bottles of waters so the Muslims would not feel any thirst or hunger during prayer.

A lady, who was staying in a building close by, woke up very early in the morning around 7 a.m. and holding a Greek flag she started dancing under the musical rhythms her neighbours. Due to this incident, the Mass Media, which as it is well known, they firmly defend the rights of the immigrants in the neighbourhoods of Athens, reminded to the Sate that at last, a Mosque in Athens has to be built. Otherwise –they threatened- the Christians will also start praying in public standing next to the Muslims though Ntinos Iliopoulos will saying from the Heaven’s “we are living in such a nice atmosphere”

Translation : Myrto Zacharof

By Tina Stylianidou

My journey to Islam is a sensitive one since my Greek Orthodox family lived in Turkey for most of their lives. Although I was born in Athens, Greece, my father, who was born and raised in Istanbul to a wealthy and well educated family, was like others living in a Muslim country – he held on to his religious identity tightly.

A time came when the Turkish government decided to kick the majority of Greek citizens out of Turkey and confiscate their wealth, houses and businesses. So my father’s family had to return back to Greece, empty handed and basically poor. This is what they, the Turks –’Muslims’ – did to them and this validated (according to them) their hatred towards Islam.

My mother’s family lived on a Greek island just on the border between Greece and Turkey and during a Turkish attack the Turks occupied the island and burnt their houses. So they escaped to the Greek mainland  in order to survive. Even more reason to hate the Turks –’Muslims’!

Greece was occupied by the Turks for over 400 years and we were taught to believe that for every crime committed towards the Greeks, Islam was responsible. That the Turks were Muslims and their crimes were reflecting their religious beliefs. So for hundreds of years we were taught in our history and religious books to hate and make fun of Islam.  In our books, Islam was actually not a religion and Muhammad (pbuh) was not a prophet! He was just a very intelligent leader and politician who gathered rules and laws from the Jews and the Christians, added some of his own ideas and conquered the world.

We were taught at school how to make fun of him and of his wives or his companions. All the ‘caricatures’ and slander against him which is published in today’s media was actually part of our curriculum.

But God protected me so hatred against Islam had not entered my heart. Other Greeks have also succeeded to rid themselves of the burden of the Orthodox religious inheritance placed on their shoulders and they have opened their eyes, ears and hearts to see that Islam is a true religion sent by God and Muhammad (pbuh) is a true prophet, the last of all prophets after a long chain of messengers starting from Adam, Noah, Abraham, Ismael, Isaac, Moses and Jesus (peace be upon them all), all sent to mankind to guide the people to the same message.

It was a great help to me that both of my parents were not very religious themselves, they rarely practised their religion and they used to take me to church only during weddings or funerals. What drove my father away from his religion was the corruption he was seeing daily among the priests and this led him to become an atheist.

As a teenager, I loved to read a lot and I wasn’t really satisfied or convinced with Christianity. I had belief in God, fear and love for Him, but everything else confused me. I started searching around but I never searched towards Islam (maybe due to the background I had against it). But in the end, God had mercy on my soul and guided me from darkness to light of the truth – Islam – submission only to One God.

He brought into my life my husband, a born Muslim, and we got married without us really paying attention to the religious differences. My husband was willing to answer any questions I had concerning his religion without humiliating my beliefs (no matter how wrong they were) and without ever putting any pressure on me or even asking me to change my religion. After three years of being married and having the chance to know more about Islam, to read the Holy Quran, as well as other religious books, I was convinced that there is no such thing as a trinity, nor was Jesus God.

I became a Muslim keeping it secret from my family and friends for many years. We lived with my husband in Greece trying to practise Islam but it was extremely difficult – almost impossible. In my home town there are no mosques, no access to Islamic studies, no people praying, fasting or women wearing hijab (the Islamic head cover).There are only some Muslim immigrants who came to Greece for a better financial future and who let the Western lifestyle attract them and eventually corrupted them. As a result, many do not follow their religious practices and are completely lost.

It was incredibly difficult to perform our Islamic duties, especially for me, as I wasn’t born Muslim and didn’t have an Islamic education. My husband and I had to pray and fast with the use of calendars instead of a Muslim call to prayer in our ears and no Muslim community to support us. We felt that with each passing day we were stepping backwards and our faith was decreasing as the wave was taking us in.

So when my daughter was born, we decided to migrate to a Muslim country. We didn’t want to raise her in a environment where she would struggle to maintain her identity where she could end up lost.

Now, after four years of our migration, I feel so homesick, so nostalgic and I wonder if it is time to return back to Greece, the beautiful country that I was born to and try to find a way to combine the wonderful identity and culture of my Greek ancestors as well as my Islamic identity and beliefs. I feel proud and thankful to God that I can be both Greek and Muslim.

The Muslim Association of Greece,

is celebrating the end of Ramadan. The Eid Al-Fitr is at at Kotzia Square,

 Athinas street across from the Mayor’s House.

 Two distinguished imams who are honored guests from Egypt

 will lead the prayer and make the festive speech.

 Easy access by buses and by metro at stations Omonoia or Monastiraki.

 Friday morning, September 10,  7.30-9.30am

Everyone is welcome! 

Gaza is bleeding and so are the people who support and love Gaza, but this time literally.

The Muslim Association of Greece highly condemns the hijacking of the unarmed freedom flotilla by the Israeli Navy in international waters. Thanks to the indifference of the world opinion, we were led to this bloody attack resulting in tragic deaths of passengers and dozens of other injured activists who were armed with nothing else but the sense of hope, justice, and the determination of a free Mediterranean.

We have actively participated since the beginning of the movement with plenty of tireless volunteers. The president, Naim Elghandour was on board of the cargo ship, Free Mediterranean, representing all of us.

People from every corner of the world, every age, ideology and status and religion have united for a just cause and now others are dead, others are wounded and some are prisoners. In the holds of the ship are dozens of electric wheelchairs for the disabled, prefabricated homes, desalination systems, building materials, and medical supplies which will never reach the receipts in Gaza who are in dire need.

Amongst the six ships of the “Freedom Flotilla” two Greek vessels and crews, the Free Mediterranean and Sfendoni were severely attacked in international waters as they also witnessed the bringing down of the Greek flag and its humiliation which is something that frightens us.

At least 4o Greek poeple are missing with Israel being the only one able to give us answers. Indeed, these are the very same poeple that killed so many civilians. How reliable can their data be and what is the fate of the hundreds activists?

The international community must act now because today civilians were killed while fighting in the name of liberty.

We express our sincerest condolences to the families of the victims, dead, wounded and prisoners and we dearly wish that one day Gaza will stop bleeding and the Mediterranean will be free.

 ——

Photo taken from aljazeera.net.

© Translation: Muslim Association of Greece

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In the near future the tens of thousands of Muslims living in Attica (and the visitors as well) will be able to pray at the first official place of worship that will be constructed in the capital after about two centuries. The government announced their decision settling, in fact, a pending case of three decades.

Discussions, laws, plans on paper, bureaucratic obstacles, reactions of citizens and ecclesiastic leaders, in combination with the “political cost” intercepted every attempt dealing with a social matter that was putting the respect of human rights and religious freedom to trial.

“We are very satisfied that an official place will exist. It will be a significant step for the unobstructed practice of our religious duties,” states to “K” Mr. Naim Elghandour, president of the Muslim Association of Greece.

Already, in the last months, the issue was frequented in meetings with the participation of the related factors meaning the ministries of Education, Internal Affairs, Foreign Affairs, City of Athens, Navy General Headquarters, and the Organisation for Regulating Planning of Athens.

As was decided in a meeting, the mosque will be constructed in an area of 17.000m² at the Votanikos area, where today the Maintenance Centre of Navy Vehicles exists. According to the plan, from the moment that all legal procedures will finish in order to bestow the usage of the area to the ministry of Education, it will take 6 -12 months to relocate this Navy department.

The mosque will be constructed by the expenses of the Hellenic state by the Program of Public Expenditure Fund. According to the relative law that was forwarded from 2006 by the former Minister of Education Marietta Giannakou, the building of the mosque must agree with the terms and limitations of building of this area. According to these terms, the building area should cover 839m², its entrance being from Iera Odos Avenue through to Asyrmatou Street and will be close to the church of Saint Christopher.

History

The matter of constructing a mosque in Athens was on the table for the first time since the late 30s. The discussion was forgotten after World War II began. After the change-over and particularly in the 80s, the issue was brought again by ambassadors from Muslim countries. In mid 90s the issue concerned the government again.

The negotiations between those who were concerned led to voting for law 2833 in 2000 that described the construction of a mosque and an Islamic cultural centre funded by Saudi Arabia. For this reason, the state bestowed an area at Peania, but was confronted by the citizens of the area and the deceased Archbishop Christodoulos, who did not agree that the first view of visitors landing to Greece from the new airport to be an Islamic minaret.

As the solving of the matter was not proceeding, the proposal of the former mayor (and right after Foreign Minister) Mrs. Bakoyiannis, to operate the Monastiraki mosque again that today is known as a popular art museum. Finally, after ‘fermentations’ in the internal affairs of New Democracy government the Votanicos solution was forwarded.

Associates of the former foreign minister expressed their satisfaction for the decision to proceed with the construction of the mosque.  Mrs. Bakoyiannis was always in favor of the construction of a mosque. She played a significant role in choosing the place and to the disengagement of the issue from the ‘protection’ of foreign interests,” they state at “K” associates of the former minister. In 2006, the minister of Education Mrs. Giannakou presented the existing law that describes the construction of a mosque with funds from the Hellenic state.

By Nikos Papachristou

Translated by Anna Stamou

© Translation: Muslim Association of Greece

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by Gerasimos Loukatos

As a Greek, I learned to be proud for the country I was born and raised in, the cradle of democracy and of a great civilization that our ancestors established. As a Muslim, I met another great civilization whose achievements benefit humanity but are known only by a few.

When joining the team of the Muslim Association of Greece, on the road to our meetings with officials of the Ministry of Education, I had doubts about the outcome. The mosque should have stood upright since 2004 so what could change after six years?

To my great surprise, I met people there that showed a sincere interest for the thousands of Muslims that have no official place to pray and they feel isolated. For all those who do not find the guidance of an acknowledged imam when they need it, and for those who cannot be buried to the country that they were born in, raised or spent most of their lives in.

With great joy, I read about the announcement of the Minister of Education for the immediate construction of the Islamic mosque, not only because there will be an official place for me to pray but for the guidance I need as a new Muslim. I am also happy because this is an action in the right direction that is in harmony with the ideals of democracy. An action that I do not read in a history book but in articles that talk about tomorrow!

I am as much Greek as a Muslim and those who know Islam in depth know that this is the middle way. It is no more than the famous saying ‘Metron Ariston’ [free translation all in good measure], applied in every aspect of Muslim’s life.

In the middle of this crisis, maybe the necessary changes shall succeed that will lead to a harmonious coexistence and equal rights and obligations, no matter what religion, beliefs or other factors. The only negative point is the inadequate capacity that comes from the statements of the officials for the mosque and the future problems they might occur.

The steps to the right direction could be more correct if the ‘future’ factor was considered into the equation.

*Gerasimos Loukatos is member of the Muslim Association of Greece

Translated by Anna Stamou