FAX – 20/08 – 2009
Date: 20 August ’09
To: Dr. Riccardo
FROM: G. Eid
OBJECT: National and international business economist, attentive to the situation of Muslims in the West and that of Christians in the Arab world, author of various publications. We met in the course of a report of mine on the coexistence of Muslims in Italy, at the Circolo dei Pugliesi in PiazzaDuomo.
In my opinion, the constitution of prayer rooms in Milan should be made according to the needs of individual districts and should not be evaluated on the basis of the number of Muslims living in Milan; the arbitrary evaluation of a percentage that prays is a purely personal fact, lends itself to exploitation. In fact, unlike the church or the parish, Muslims need places where they can gather to pray under the guidance of an imam responsible for the sermon. Even though this is not obligatory because in Islam the relationship that exists between the faithful and our common Creator, God, is direct without the filter of a hierarchy.
The Mosque, instead, is a space that has other functions besides the satisfaction of religious needs, in so far as it performs socio-political functions and functions of aggregation of all those who identify themselves with the same religion and the same current in so far as in the Arab Islamic world the laws are applied in different ways according to the countries and government of the moment, they are neither constant nor equal in all countries. The mosque is not only a place of prayer or worship, but an Islamic aggregation centre with cultural, social and no less political values. In general the riots appear on Friday after the sermon. I take this opportunity to dwell on the prospect of the creation of a mosque in Milan: Not a mosque in Milan but as many as the real needs of the residents.
Allow me to draw your attention to some of the drawbacks of offering a unique place for prayer in Milan, instead of encouraging the creation of prayer rooms in the neighbourhoods that need it most. It would avoid the free or “encouraged” movement of people from one part of the city to another, thus taking away time at hours useful for work if it were on weekdays. As an example:
- The management of the single space could be taken over by the exponents of Jenner Avenue, then the UCOI, just those who have not adhered to the values of our constitution.
- the UCOI would be favoured as a representative of the Muslims to become the word carrier of requests to favour politically the introduction of “exceptions” to the laws of the state; to facilitate some exceptions proposed by the UCOI for the Muslims would open the way to privileges and discriminations to the detriment of the other non-Muslims citizens and would give official status to only a part of the Muslim representation in Italy; the example of the UK should teach us this.
- It is not certain that Muslim inhabitants who “do not frequent mosques” are happy with the exceptions or privileges that would be agreed with an official interlocutor. In this way, Muslims who do not adhere to the UCOI line are excluded; they are the most numerous but less organized; these non-politicised elements would almost become obliged to be channelled through those who have erected themselves as representatives of the Muslims. Another element to consider are the many Muslims, especially women, who prefer not to have discriminatory regimes, but rather have fled their countries for this very reason.
- Representing Muslims or Islam? I am puzzled by the frantic search for an interlocutor for Muslims. I say well Muslims and not Islam. The IEC and the local bishops have their own channels with the Islamic religious authorities, but the Italian State and the civic authorities should deal with the citizens, residents, clandestine and so on, through their own institutions for the precise application of our laws. Do I not know of the existence of official interlocutors representing citizens on the basis of their religious beliefs, atheists, Buddhists, etc.? In this way we would slip into identifying citizens by their religion, with the danger of falling into racism.
- The UCOI would be encouraged to become a political party for the local elections following the example of the Muslim brothers in Egypt or Hamas in Palestine.
- Prayer space managers would easily become a political lever in the hands of a foreign funding state; a danger that sooner or later could come true. Due to the lack of qualified preachers and imams available very often the sermon is broadcast, not in Italian, from a foreign country through TV with considerations far from the Italian reality. as you know, Muslims often refer to Mecca as a moral, theological or other renowned institution such as the Azhar of Cairo which is subject to local government authority. It is easy to foresee the request of a mosque to make a pendant to the cathedral with all the above mentioned inconveniences
- The location of the single space does not favour the religiosity of families: in a city as large as Milan, moving from one’s place of residence requires a time that does not facilitate free attendance to prayer, something that would be possible if the neighbourhood had its own place of aggregation. Then, it would be a good idea to encourage religious gatherings not on Fridays, which is a normal working day, causing the usual hindrances to circulation, but rather on public holidays; you will be aware that in Arab countries Christians have adapted and gather for masses on Fridays instead of Sundays.
I have spoken for a long time and you will have to excuse me, but the subject has a long-term impact on our society. The same impact that decision-making deadlock has had with regard to the invasion of the sidewalks on Jenner Avenue.
As for the proposal to grant land by the municipality free of charge, I would suggest, for the reasons mentioned above, that the donor has the right of representation in the governing body that will be responsible for the administration of the religious institution and its buildings. I have heard that there is a project for a large mosque that would have the functions mentioned above in the Humpback farmstead area with undefined financiers and this makes it seem that the financial aspect is not a problem for the creation of prayer spaces. Ultimately, I propose to facilitate the creation of prayer rooms in the neighbourhoods that need it most with the involvement of individual constituencies in accordance with national and local laws.
I thank you for your attention, trusting that I may have been useful to you for the performance of your delicate functions and for decisions in the appropriate locations.
Giuseppe Samir Eid
Free web translation from the original in Italian
The published articles intend to provide the tools for a social inclusion of the migratory flow, shed light on human rights and the condition of life of Christians in the Islamic world from which the author come from. Knowledge of the other, of cultural and religious differences are primary ingredients to create peace in the hearts of men everywhere, a prerequisite for a peaceful coexistence and convinced citizenship in the territory.