Portal:Islam/Selected article/21

The Cologne Mosque project (German: DITIB-Zentralmoschee Köln, Turkish: Merkez-Camii) is a project by German Muslims of the Organization DITIB to build a large, representative Zentralmoschee (central mosque) in Cologne, Germany. After some controversy, the project won the approval of Cologne's city council. The project drew a negative response from Ralph Giordano, Cologne's Roman Catholic archbishop, and German, Austrian, and Belgian right-wing groups. This opposition was in turn criticized by DITIB, and the project is supported by many Catholic and German churches, as well as Cologne's mayor, Fritz Schramma. Opponents see mosques as an expression of Islamization and accuse them of inhibiting integration. Supporters have countered that Muslims should be allowed to have mosques, as Christians have churches and Jews have synagogues. The mosque is designed in Ottoman architectural style, with glass walls, two minarets and a dome. The mosque is proposed to have a bazaar as well as other secular areas intended for interfaith interactions. As the mosque will be one of Europe's biggest, it has been criticized for its size, particularly the height of the minarets.