My article today coincides with the second week of the holy month of Ramadan, may God bring it back to everyone with goodness, right and blessings.
The occasion to write about this topic is the announcement by the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria of the opening of the largest mosque in Africa and the third largest in the world, at a value of $1 billion!
In addition to the prayer hall, the Algiers Mosque features 12 buildings that include a library containing one million books, a lecture hall, a museum of Islamic art and history, and a higher school of Islamic sciences for doctoral students.
The mosque can accommodate 120,000 worshippers (36,000 of them in the prayer hall and 84,000 in the outer courtyard)!
The question that poses itself, in all honesty and sincerity and far from political hypocrisy, is: “Does Algeria need this mosque of this size?”
Personally, I believe that the Algerian government has many outstanding political, economic and social issues that require its priorities and attention. Algeria, like all Arab and Islamic countries, is full of mosques and mosques! These countries have many important files that are considered one of their priorities and their responsibilities to find solutions to solve them in order to provide a decent living for their people! Not to mention paying off its public debt!
The issue of a feasibility study for any project is very important before making any decision. Unfortunately, some decisions are taken randomly and emotionally, and the result is useless, and sometimes even tragic. It is the same as any governmental or private institution, as it must implement its projects according to its priorities and importance in terms of the community’s need and its annual return (return on investment).
On the other hand, I received a video clip of an American woman who inherited a large inheritance from her deceased husband. This woman decided to pay the students’ fees for one of the medical schools in New York for life, with a total value of $1 billion! Yes, the same amount that the Algerian government paid to build the mosque! Imagine that this generous donation was made by only one person! This woman deserves to be written about and praised for this noble work that will undoubtedly serve humanity in the field of medicine and support students financially by paying the tuition fees that burden them without the slightest doubt.
There are many projects and charitable works that philanthropists can provide to society, and they should not be limited to building mosques and on funerals!
In a strange and unbelievable scene, the media reported that one of the well-known religious sheikhs in Egypt made showy movements while reciting verses from the Holy Quran! As a result of this shameful behaviour, the Egyptian authorities interrogated and took legal measures against him. Several days after this incident, the former mufti of Egypt comes to you through a programme shown on Egyptian Channel One, in a special programme for teenage youth of both sexes, to say that Paradise is not limited to Muslims, and likewise friendly relationships are permissible between the sexes as long as they are chaste (i.e., free of secrecy and taboos)!
I am not going to discuss the topic, but the question that arises is: What is behind these incomprehensible and strange explanations during the holy month? We can no longer distinguish between what is forbidden and what is permissible. If the former mufti of Egypt gives such an interpretation, what do you care about the rest of the religious sheikhs!
Quite frankly, I do not know what is happening in the entire world. There are blatant contradictions in many scenes and arenas at the official and popular levels.
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