Malmö Mosque#Attacks

{{Short description|Mosque in Malmö, Skåne, Sweden}}

{{use dmy dates|date=August 2024}}

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| image = Moske Malmo 2014Jun17 0002-3.jpg

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| location = Malmö, Sweden

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| capacity = 1,000

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The Malmö Mosque ({{Langx|sv|Malmö moské}}) is the second oldest mosque in Sweden. It is located in Jägersro villastad, a neighbourhood in Husie, Malmö. It was inaugurated on 20 April 1984 and is administered by the organization Islamic Center.{{cite news |url=http://www.svt.se/nyheter/oklart-om-nytt-moskebygge |title=Oklart om nytt moskébygge |newspaper=SVT Nyheter |publisher=Sveriges Television |date=7 September 2007 |access-date=14 November 2013 }} Adjacent to the mosque is a charter school, which is also run by the Islamic Center.

There have been several attacks against the mosque, including an arson attack on 28 April 2003, which damaged the mosque and destroyed other buildings at the Islamic Center.

==History==

During the 1960s and 1970s many Muslims from former Yugoslavia, Turkey and other Muslim countries came to Sweden to work temporary, but with time they started to realize that life in Sweden became more long-lasting. This became not least apparent when the first death among Muslim immigrants occurred. So in the 1960s the idea of building a mosque arose and by the late 1970s the zoning for the construction started.{{cite book |last1=Ingvar Svanberg |first1=Pia Karlsson |editor1-last=Ignestam |editor1-first=Evah |title=Moskéer i Sverige |date=1995 |publisher=Procoma/Markaryds Grafiska |location=Uppsala, Sweden |page=40 |url=https://www.myndighetensst.se/download/18.1d705d99157404e47e43778c/1474380174860/Karlsson_Svanberg_1995_MoskeeriSverige.pdf |access-date=2021-01-31 |language=swedish}}Malmö Municipality was helpful by sparing a big plot of land of 32,000 square metres. After some standard procedures such as archaeological excavations, the construction started in April 1983. The mosque was inaugurated on 20 April 1984 and the first Friday prayers were held that day.{{cite web |url=http://icmalmo.se/?page_id=44 |title=Historik – tiden, platsen, tanken och framtiden |publisher=Islamic Center |access-date=14 November 2013 |archive-date=1 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201134629/http://icmalmo.se/?page_id=44 |url-status=dead }} The initiator of the project was Bejzat Becirov, who led the Islamic Center and its mosque until he died in November 2018 at the age of 80.{{cite news |url=https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/skane/bejzat-becirov-dod-grundade-nordens-forsta-moske |title=Bejzat Becirov död – grundade en av Nordens första moskéer |newspaper=SVT Nyheter |publisher=Sveriges Television |date=2 November 2018 |last1=Larsson |first1=Hans }}

In 2008, after having financial difficulties an organisation with close ties to Muammar Gaddafi, called World Islamic Call Society (WICS), bought the mosque for 30 million Swedish kronor. During the Libyan Civil War they got criticized from the Swedish media about the connection between the mosque and the organization. Bejzat Becirov the then president of the mosque stated that WICS is autonomous from the government in Tripoli and that it's a serious organization who's a member of UNESCO.{{cite web |title=Khadaffi bakom moské i Malmö |url=https://www.expressen.se/nyheter/khadaffi-bakom-moske-i-malmo/ |website=www.expressen.se|date=28 February 2011 }}{{cite web |title=Moskén i Malmö ägs av Gaddafi |url=https://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/kolumnister/a/qnv6ag/mosken-i-malmo-ags-av-gaddafi |website=www.aftonbladet.se |date=28 February 2011 |publisher=Oisin Cantwell |language=Swedish}}{{cite web |title=World Islamic Call Society (W.I.C.S) |url=http://www.geocities.com/mnjilani/WICS22.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091027111403/http://www.geocities.com/mnjilani/WICS22.htm |archive-date=2009-10-27 |accessdate=2020-09-22}}