Mosque with no muezzin, only light

[Bhushan]

Mosque with no muezzin, only light


MARSEILLE: The minaret of the new Grand Mosque of Marseille, whose cornerstone will be laid here in April, will be silent — no
disturb the neighborhood with the call to prayer. Instead, the minaret will flash a beam of light for a couple of minutes, five times a day.

Normally, the light would be green, for the color of Islam. But Marseille is a port, and green is reserved for signals to ships at sea. Red? No, the firefighters have reserved red.

Instead, said Noureddine Cheikh, head of the Marseille Mosque Association, the light will almost surely be purple — a rather nightclubby look for such an elegant building.

So is this assimilation? Cheikh laughs. "I suppose it is," he said. "It's a good symbol of assimilation."

But as Western Europe is plunged into anxiety over the impact of Muslim immigration — reeling from the implications of a Swiss vote to ban minarets altogether — some scholars see a destructive dynamic, with assimilation feeding a reaction that, in turn, spawns resentment, particularly among young Muslims.

Vincent Geisser, a scholar of Islam and immigration, believes that the more Europe's Muslims establish themselves as a permanent part of the national scene, the more they frighten some who believe their national identity could be altered forever. "Today in Europe the fear of Islam crystallizes all other fears," Geisser said. "In Switzerland, it's minarets. In France, it's the veil, the burqa and the beard."

The large new mosque is a source of pride here in France's second-largest city, which is at least 25% Muslim. But it is also cause for alarm, Geisser said.

At the Grand Bar Bernabo, a cafe near the site of the new mosque, an older man who refused to give his name said, "I'm going to bomb it when it opens." Asked why, he said: "There are a lot of them already, and this will bring more of them, and there will be trouble."

 

[Evil Flare]

I am Complete against it ..

How can there is no Muazzen in MAJID ? . Its Very Much Compulsory ..

 

[pak-yes]

Its only a matter of time when ISLAM is completely banned in Europe.Most of people here will laugh but it will happen slowly buy surely

 

[greatsequence]

I think there will be no azan on loud speaker so that no one gets disturbed outside the masjid but still to notify those who are out the lights will be used. I think its good.

 

[New Shivaji]

Marseille Mosque Association has taken a good decision, muslims know the prayer timings anyway. This is step in the right direction for assimilation of muslims into swiss society.

Muslims dont want to seen as a sore thumb.

 

[Shattered]

I like this idea most of the people won't get distrube by it =P.

 

[Hulk]

Marseille Mosque Association has taken a good decision, muslims know the prayer timings anyway. This is step in the right direction for assimilation of muslims into swiss society.

Muslims dont want to seen as a sore thumb.

I agree and extend it to Hindus as well, I do not like the loudspeaker used for prayers and most of the time it is not for people inside to hear. When religion started there was no loudspeaker.

 

[Captain03]

idiot and ignorant move by the swiss

 

[blain2]

Its only a matter of time when ISLAM is completely banned in Europe.Most of people here will laugh but it will happen slowly buy surely

Maybe it will be a blessing in disguise to reverse the brain drain. Always have to look for the silver lining in the clouds. ;-)

 

[Kompromat]

The guy even lacks the Basic concept of Adhan ( call for prayers) All over the world Mosques have internal Sound system where the Adhan is called before the Jamat , And external loud speakers are not used .

 

[qsaark]

Maybe it will be a blessing in disguise to reverse the brain drain. Always have to look for the silver lining in the clouds.

It will never reverse the brain drain, because this has nothing to do with the brain drain.

First of all only a percentage of the learned/white collar Pakistanis actually says their prayers regularly, even irregularly? Than there are even fewer who actually go to the mosques except perhaps for the Jumaa/Eid prayers? Those who say their prayers and bother to go to mosques are poor people, blue collar workers, shop keepers etc.

I move in the Pakistani community, as well as in the Indian and the Bangladeshi communities. I have found Bangladeshis the best when it comes to practice their culture and religion; than come the Indians, who seek pride in their national, cultural and religious values; and in the last come the Pakistanis. Even among themselves, they love to communicate in English or semi-English even though they can’t speak well (which indeed is the case most of the time), attend the social gatherings preferably in western attires, openly drink alcohol to prove themselves as liberal and modern, and make fun of their religion and religious teachings. The largest mosque we have here in Atlanta is the Masjid Umar; it is a scene when you go to the mosque during the Eid prayers as if they have not come to fulfill a ‘wajib’ but to attend a fashion show, and not as a spectator, but as a participant.

Once I was invited by a Pakistani family. The wife is my colleague while the husband is a full Professor at Georgia Tech. I had to use the bathroom, and the bathroom had no ‘lota’ or ‘anything’ to wash myself after fulfilling my natural need; there was only ‘toilet paper’. Now imagine, they don’t even clean themselves up as per Islamic teachings, from where comes the question of saying prayers? This is more common among the ‘accomplished’ Pakistanis than we want to think.

Bottom line is, those who have problem with certain western policies are not the Pakistanis working as Engineers/Doctors/Scientists (the so-called brain) but the ones who are working in subways, McDonalds etc.