At last, 350,000 Athens Muslims get first mosque

The joy of minority Muslims who are not more than 350,000 in the Greek capital, Athens new no bounds as the first mosque is now opened.

The opening of the mosque after one and half decade of internal wrangling and opposition by non-Muslims came to lime light with many of them rejoicing.

This development saw the first call to prayer happened on Monday evening with only a few Muslims in attendance.

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Reports from local media indicated that the few number of Muslims at the first call to prayer was due to the coronavirus restrictions in the country.

It was gathered that a bigger celebration is expected to be held after the pandemic.

Opposition from the Greek Orthodox Church had delayed the opening of the mosque since 1979. Majority of Greeks are Orthodox Christians, forming about 97 per cent of the 10.72 million population. It took years even after the government gave the go ahead in 2006.

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Meanwhile, the first imam is Moroccan-born Greek national Zaki Mohammed, he studied theology and mathematics and speaks Arabic, Greek and French.