Proposed Brno mosque sheds light on religious divisions

There are growing concerns that a simmering dispute over plans to build a second mosque in Brno could erupt on the national stage just months before a general election. The chairman of the South Moravian Christian Democratic Party (KDU-ČSL) chapter, Stanislav Juránek, announced July 26 that the party opposes the construction of a second mosque in Brno, where some 120 Muslims meet regularly at the city's existing mosque. One day later, KDU-ČSL leader Cyril Svoboda backed Juránek.

Svoboda said he respects Muslims, and newcomers must respect local traditions. It would help if Muslim countries were more open to Christians, he added, and the time is not ripe to build a new house of prayer in Brno. The head of the Brno-based Islamic Foundation, Munib Hasan, stressed the plan to build a new mosque was barely past the initial stages.

"There's nothing acute going on, we are merely thinking about a possibility to increase our space, add a library and possibly air conditioning," Hasan said.

Sonya Khan, a regular visitor to the Brno mosque, explained that Brno has seen an influx in Muslims since the mosque was built 11 years ago.

"The mosque is bursting at the seams," she said.

Juránek and his party fear a second mosque would deeply change the cultural landscape of the city, and he said he explicitly opposes its construction, especially if it were to include a minaret, a distinctive architectural feature of Islamic mosques.

"We won't tolerate fundamental changes to the image of our city," Juránek said.

Hasan said some of the mega-malls built in recent years destroy the landscape of the city much more than a new mosque would. He also said that, while the Islamic Foundation hopes for a feature resembling a minaret to help visitors find the mosque, it was not insisting on it.

"We don't want to risk our good relations with the locals over a minaret," he said.

Juránek said Muslims wishing to live in Brno should adapt local customs if they want to live there.

"If they feel they cannot freely express themselves here, then they should also feel free to leave," he added.

Brno Muslims do respect local customs, Hasan stressed. "We work, we dress cleanly, we pay taxes and send our children to school, we are loyal to the Czech state; so I don't know what else we can do to adapt. We surely won't start drinking alcohol just because we live here," he said.

Hasan emphasized that he wants to avoid any bad relations with the KDU-ČSL. "I don't want this to turn into a scandal." He said the announcement might end up being misused as a pre-election issue.

Juránek denied this, saying, "We are merely reacting to their announcement, this is not connected to any political interest of ours."

Building just one big mosque might actually help fight possible extremism, Khan said. "If there is only one mosque in town, you have more control over banning any extremist teachings," she said, adding that Hasan had a deep understanding of Czech culture and has tried to teach newcomers to abide by local customs.

Hasan said he wants to avoid the mistake that many Muslim communities in Western countries have made. "We don't want to be isolated. We want to be integrated while keeping our identity. This is our ideal," he said. 

Sarah Borufka can be reached at
sborufka@praguepost.com