Spain: the mosque of Granada welcomes converts to Islam every Friday
Centuries after the unchallenged and inquisitorial reign of Isabella the Catholic, in the heart of a Spain where religious fervor is still exalted, conversions to Islam miraculously take place, each year, with rare constancy.
Centuries after the flamboyant era of Al-Andalus, near the prestigious Alhambra palace built in the 14th century by the Arab Nasrid dynasty, the Great Mosque of Granada resounds, every Friday, with the pronounced Shahada with emotion by one or even two Spanish citizens. (see video below)
According to a now immutable ritual that brings joy to Umar del Pozo, the president of the Association of the Spanish Islamic Society and the Foundation of the Great Mosque of Granada, one to two of his non-Muslim fellow citizens walk towards the House of God, every weekend, after the great collective prayer, to take the step of conversion.
” TEvery Friday, at least one Spaniard, or even two, converts to Islam in our mosque », rejoices Umar del Pozo, emphasizing « the sharp increase in the number of Spaniards who have become Muslims, especially after the pandemic “. ” VSit makes us happy and proud “, he confided, his eyes shining.
” Around 36,000 Muslims live in the cities and neighborhoods of Granada. 3,700 of them are Spaniards who have embraced Islam and their third generation children “, he added.
Like the young Spaniard, Jose Miguel, whose strong act of conversion was immortalized in the video below, recently broadcast by Euronews and Anadolu, the Turkish press agency, there are dozens of them every year. , to respond to the irresistible call of Allah in Granada, the flagship city of Andalusia.
Grenade, whose rich Islamic past remains engraved in stone, if not in memory, was proclaimed capital of the Emirate of Granada in the 13th century, under the Nasrid domination, the last Muslim state of the Iberian Peninsula.
To see or see again : our video When the Adhan makes the walls of the Alhambra palace vibrate in tribute to the late Sidi Mouaz al-Nass, who died prematurely in April 2023, in Houston, USA. Famous munshid of the American Muslim community, his father, Shaykh Samir, was a prominent scholar from Damascus.
