Defining the Mosque in Europe *

Defining the Mosque in Europe *

By Prof. Stefano Allievi

The prayer room is numerically by far the most significant category of mosque in all European countries.
The first problem that arises is defining what we mean by a mosque. We do not expect to find an exhaustive and universally shared definition: put simply, ashared definition does not exist, certainly not in non-Islamic countries, the focus of our research. Here we will use an extensive and commonsense criterion: all places open to the faithful, in which Muslims gather together to pray on a regular basis, will be considered to be mosques. We are aware that this definition contains an inevitable margin of error, but at the same time it is more meaningful and more comprehensive of the dimensions and dynamics of the phenomenon we are discussing. It appeals to the principal function – prayer – and its collective and public aspect.[1]

Within the category of mosque, a number of differences are discernible. Employing a scale of decreasing importance, the first element is that of ‘Islamic centre’. By an Islamic centre we mean a centre of significant size, which has, in addition to the function of prayer and worship, a number of social and cultural functions through various forms of gathering (a Koranic school; courses and meeting opportunities for adults, women and converts; conferences and other educational and cultural activities),[2] usually conducted in separate rooms from the prayer hall itself. Such a centre also carries out the activities of institutional and symbolic representation of Muslims. Islamic centres are a small but important part of what we call mosques. Only in major cities might there be more than one, and often there are none at all. Not infrequently they perform a centralizing function of representation at a provincial or regional level. Usually, they also organize special meetings, for example those relating to Islamic holidays.

One category that we often encounter, especially given its significance in relation to conflicts surrounding places of worship, is that of ad hoc, or purpose-built, mosque, usually with visible signs of a dome and one or more minarets (the real masgids).[3] These may overlap, and are often the same as Islamic centres,but there are cases of ad hoc mosques that are not organized and structured Islamic centres, as such centres are not infrequently located in converted buildings that do not have the visible form of a mosque and where signs of recognition and external visible clues are limited to a sign or a plaque.

A third category – numerically by far the most significant in all European countries – is the Islamic musalla, or prayer room. Musallas may be located in industrial buildings, warehouses, former shops and apartments.[4] They may only serve to host the activity of prayer, but more often other activities are also performed there (eg Koranic schools and other educational events). Within this category we also find ‘ethnic’ musallas, which are attended only by members of one ethnic group, usually on the grounds of language (non-Arabophone ethnic groups, for example). Special mention should be made of the prayer halls or Sufi zawiyas, ie those belonging to mystical brotherhoods; these sometimes have an ethnic-linguistic specificity (such as Senegalese murids and certain brotherhoods with an Indo‑Pakistani origin), but some – especially those attended mostly by converts –may have a strong inter-ethnic character. There are also prayer halls belonging to minority Muslim groups (Shiites, Ahmadiyya, etc), when they have the resources to build their own structures. These three categories of prayer hall have the prerogative to be semi-closed: that is, in principle they are open to any Muslim, but in fact they are frequented only by those belonging to a specific group. This is particularly true of Sufi groups in which – albeit with significant exceptions, notably in the English speaking world – there can be no external sign of recognition, and they have no desire to open themselves up to the ordinary Muslim in the area who is simply looking for a place to pray, because the moments of the meeting may be different from the usual canonical ones, using particular liturgies and dhikr.

Some musallas are temporary for various reasons. This may be because they share premises with other activities (this may occur, for instance, in universities, hospitals, football stadiums and accommodation centres for immigrants), so they serve as prayer halls only at certain times or in certain periods of the year. Such is the case with mosques that are situated in temporary gathering places (for instance, holiday destinations that attract Muslim workers only at certain times of the year, or rural mosques where seasonal workers are employed in agriculture). Many isolated rural mosques, which are often outside the scope of the federations and relatively unknown, are nevertheless stable, although economically weaker at certain times of the year.

While it is relatively easy to calculate the number of Islamic centres, mosques built ad hoc and major prayer halls, the calculation of ‘hidden’ and temporary mosques is inevitably more complicated and often not very accurate. However, in this paper, when we talk of mosques in general, the term is meant to include all types of mosques and prayer halls within a country.

Most mosques play complex and varied roles: religious, social, cultural, political and economic, for instance. Other activities of interest and gatherings often take place around a mosque: halal butchers, ethnic shops, phone centres, import–export activities, ethnic-religious libraries (Islamic, but also often places where one can find books, videos, CDs and DVDs of the main ethnic and linguistic community in the area). In neighbourhoods with a strong ethnic character or a strong immigrant presence, a mosque will take its place quite naturally in the area. Furthermore, at a local level, mosques are also community centres and represent an interface with various networks – ethnic, national (linked to the countries of origin) and transnational (religious and political).[5]

* This text is republished with the permission ofAlliance Publishing Trust. “Defining the Mosque in Europe” is part of the reportConflicts Over Mosques in Europe: Policy Issues and Trends – NEF Initiative on Religion and Democracy inEurope© 2009 Network of European Foundations.

Stefano Allievi is Professor of Sociology at the University of Padua. His special interests include migration issues, sociology of religion and cultural change; he has particularly focused his studies on the presence of Islam in Europe, a subject on which he has published extensively.

[1] This is what usually causes a problem for the opponents of mosques. They never say that they are against the fact that Muslims pray – ‘they should do it at home’ was heard repeatedly by representatives of the anti-Islamic movement; rather, they are against the fact that they do it together in places open to the public. As they put it, they are not against Islam, they are against mosques.

[2] For a description of an important example, see Amiraux 2009. In this sense they are also places where Islamic knowledge is produced, especially in what is still the most widespread and pervasive form – oral (on this see Van Bruinessen and Allievi 2009).

[3] It is not very useful, however, in Europe to apply the distinction between masgid and jami, or between a ‘weekday’ mosque and the traditional congregational mosque where the community is found on Friday. In fact, almost all mosques in Europe fulfil both functions.

[4] In the literature these are variously called basement mosques, mosquées hangars, house mosques, hinterhofmoschee, backyard mosques, mescit, mescid, prayer halls, etc.
[5] On the functions of mosques, see Waardenburg 1988; on social practices in Europe, see Dassetto 1996; on transnational networks, see Allievi and Nielsen 2003.

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