Re-Reconquista update

SPAIN'S CATHOLIC bishops are mobilising against Muslim plans to recreate the Andalusian city of Cordoba as a huge pilgrimage site for Muslims throughout Europe.

Cordoba's Muslim community wants to build a half-size replica of the eighth-century mosque in the city that was once heart of the ancient Islamic kingdom of al-Andalus. Cordoba's Muslim Association is seeking funds for the project from the governments of the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, and Muslim organisations in Morocco and Egypt. The complex would include schools, conference centres, a hotel, library, sports fields, a swimming pool and shops, said the association's president, Abu-Muhammad Abdullah-Imram.

Another giant Saudi-funded mosque is planned near the ancient fortress palace of Medina Azahara, a heritage site just outside Cordoba. Similar mosques are planned for Seville and Granada.

There's the obvious temptation to draw comparisons with what the Zionists were doing in Palestine -- yet whereas the Temple Mount remains to this day under Muslim control, the Spanish Muslims are aiming straight at retaking or re-establishing their historical sanctuaries.

But bishops are alarmed at the prospect of huge, eye-catching mosques, fearing the Catholic Church's waning influence may be further eclipsed by resurgent Islam financed from abroad. One million Muslims, immigrants and converts, are estimated to live in Spain, with the largest community - around 250,000 - in Andalusia. Many are drawn by the area's Islamic heritage and a romantic nostalgia for the lost paradise of the kingdom of al-Andalus that ruled Spain for more than 500 years.

The campaigners certainly aren't shy, either:

The polemic was re-ignited when the pope, Benedict XVI, visited Turkey in November and prayed in Istanbul's Blue Mosque. "That was a tremendously positive sign to Muslims. It showed that mosques are open to Christian worshippers," said Escudero. "Why can't Muslims pray in Cordoba's mosque?"

As if any Christian other than the Pope would be granted such indulgence! Nor does it seem that the recent push is the result of a new desire for interreligious understanding:

Muslims in Spain have long been respectful to the country's ecclesiastical and civil authorities, but as numbers have swelled they have turned to more radical leaders. An alliance of Spanish converts, pro-Moroccan and pro-Saudi leaders took control of one of Spain's two main Islamic federations last year. Rising new leaders include fundamentalist imams from Saudi-funded mosques in Madrid and Fuengirola.

Full article here.

Previous post here.

Posted by David on January 15, 2007 12:51 PM