Denmark’s largest Shia Muslim mosque opened in Copenhagen on Thursday.
The Imam Ali Mosque is located on Vibevej in Copenhagen’s Nordvest district. The 2,100 square metre mosque is topped by a turquoise dome and two 32-metre minarets and has space for 1,500 people.
See photos of the new mosque here
The Imam Ali mosque has been in the works since 2009, when plans for its construction were approved by the City of Copenhagen. The new facility has billed itself as “one mosque for all” and has promised services in a variety of languages.
In an invitaiton to its official opening, the Imam Ali Mosque stressed that everyone was welcome.
“Imam Ali Mosque wants to start a competion between similar faith societies to see who can be the most open to the local community. Therefore we look forward to seeing all residents, Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Everyone is welcome, regardless of gender, race, ethnic origin, religion, faith, handicap, age or sexual orientation,” the Facebook event read.
See also: Denmark's first 'real' mosque opens, bankrolled by Qatar
The new mosque comes just a year after a large Sunni mosque was opened in the same district. That mosque, the Hamad Bin Khalifa Civilsation Center, is Denmark’s largest at 6,700 square metres and was surrounded in controversy due to its 150 million kroner in funding from Qatar.
Another mega-mosque backed by the Islamic Society of Denmark is planned for 2017. That mosque is being designed by Henning Larsen Architects and will not have minarets, as it is intended to “combine Nordic architectural traditions with Islamic ones”.
Click through on the photo below for more pictures of the new mosque.
Photo: Imam Ali Mosque/Facebook
The Local.dk