Reykjavík Mosque
| Félag múslima á Íslandi (Muslim Association of Iceland) | |
|---|---|
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| Basic information | |
| Location | Reykjavík, Iceland |
| Geographic coordinates | 64°08′3″N 21°52′30″W / 64.13417°N 21.87500°W |
| Affiliation | Sunni Islam |
| Country | Iceland |
| Leadership | Sheikh Salmann Tamimi |
| Architectural description | |
| Architectural type | Office Complex |
| Architectural style | Late Modernism |
| Groundbreaking | 1987 |
| Completed | 1991 |
| Specifications | |
| Direction of façade | Mecca |
| Capacity | Main Prayer Hall: 50 |
| Dome height (outer) | 27 m (90 ft) |
| Minaret height | 40 m (130 ft) |
| Materials | Steel, Concrete, Marble, Glass |
The Reykjavík Mosque (Icelandic: Moskan í Reykjavík Arabic: Masjid an-nuur The Mosque of the Light) is a Sunni mosque and gathering area for Muslims in Iceland. It is located in the Ármúli district. The mosque was opened in 2002 by the Muslim Association of Iceland after requesting the city government for permission to build a purpose-built mosque in 2000, with no swift response.
It offers Friday prayers every week and it is open for prayers nightly also. There are two imams, Salmann Tamimi a Palestinian immigrant who was also president of the Muslim Association of Iceland until 2010, and an imam from Algeria. During Ramadan, a sheikh from Libya joins and leads the taraweeh prayers. In January 2009, a new wooden altar was built by members of the association.
In the year 2013, for the Islamic month of Ramadan (which fell in most of July and the beginning of August), the Muslim Association of Iceland invited Ismaeel Malik, an American currently studying at Umm al-Qura University, to lead the prayers and deliver the Friday sermons. On Saturdays, the mosque held dinners along with motivational lectures. Ismaeel Malik was also invited to an Iftar dinner hosted by Luis E. Arreaga, the current United States Ambassador to Iceland. The ambassador and the embassy staff were "particularly pleased" to have an American Muslim visiting Iceland participate in the dinner.
Permission to build a purpose-built mosque was first sought in 1999. The city government authorized a plot of land much smaller than requested but did not approve the building plans. The project stalled when approval of additional land and further progress was tied to approval of the adjacent Russian Orthodox church. This delay was 'especially signalled as a possible sign of prejudice against Muslims by the ECRI (European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance) human rights report on Iceland in 2007'. On July 6th 2013, Reykjavík City Council, under the leadership of Jón Gnarr, gave permission for an 800 square metre purpose-built mosque in Reykjavík, with a roof no higher than nine metres and a ten-metre minaret, in the easternmost part of Sogamýri, between Miklubraut and Suðurlandsbraut. Following a design competition, a design was chosen in 2015 by Gunnlaugur Stefán Baldursson and Pia Bickmann; the mosque is to include a prayer hall, library, information centre and probably a restaurant.
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