Al-Shems Mosque

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The front of the Al-Shem mosque

The Al-Shems mosque ( Al-Shems Arabic: "sun") is the mosque of the Islamic-Albanian community of Al-Shems. The mosque was founded in 1990 in Kriessern in the canton of St. Gallen . The location of the mosque was moved to Rebstein in 1995 . In 2005 the company moved into the current building. The mosque does not belong to any umbrella organization.

history

During the season of the seasonal workers , workers from Yugoslavia came to Switzerland. In 1990 they rented the hall in the former Adler restaurant in Kriessern, at least for the month of Ramadan . Initially, five people had to pay for the rent and the costs of the imam who was traveling from Macedonia or Serbia . After just one year, the number of members grew to 100 people; there was no fixed membership fee. In 1992 the Islamic-Albanian Community of Al-Shems was founded.

In 1995, the steadily growing number of members made a new room for the mosque necessary. This - more precisely a cellar - was found in Rebstein, but it was larger, and the association signed a lease for the new mosque on January 1, 1996. The years in the basement were marked by fundraising for the Kosovo war . So not only ritual festivals and occasions took place, but also nationalistic ones. As the number of members continued to grow, Alivebi, the then imam of Al-Shems and today's imam in the Ikre mosque in Rorschach , suggested that they buy their own property. The members promised the club management the financial means. A decision was made in favor of the property on Gewerbestrasse and money was collected for the move. This was delayed because the municipality initially did not issue a permit to change the use.

Legal proceedings for building permit

The political community Rebstein had not given a change of use in 2003, since neighbors in particular fought vehemently against a mosque. For example, leaflets were distributed with the inscription “No mosque in residential areas in the Rhine Valley”. The Rebstein community justified the non-issuance of the usage change permit by stating that the planned usage was not zone-compliant. The Islamic-Albanian community put in 2004 at the St. Galler Baudepartement Appeals a. After a lengthy debate, the building department accepted the appeal. The municipality Rebstein then filed a complaint against the decision of the Building Department at the Administrative Court of the Canton Court , a St. Gallen. The court approved the planned change of use on June 20, 2005. After three years of negotiations, the planned move could take place. The Islamic-Albanian Society has been located at Gewerbestrasse 2 in Rebstein since 2005.

Infrastructure

Main entrance to the mosque
The prayer room

From the outside, the mosque is hardly recognizable as such. Only a plaque at the entrance with the inscription "Bashkësia Islame Al-Shems / Islamic Community Al-Shems" indicates a mosque.

The building consists of two floors. The most important element of a mosque, the prayer room, is located on the upper floor. It is carpeted and takes up most of the floor space. In the middle of the prayer room is the mihrab (prayer niche). On the one hand it represents the place of prayer of the Imam , on the other hand it shows the Qibla (direction of prayer). The mihrab is also provided with two calligraphies on which Mohammed and Allah can be read. On the right side of the mihrab is the minbar (pulpit). It is used exclusively for the Friday and holiday sermons.

Also on the upper floor are the offices, a library , toilets and a washroom for carrying out the ritual washing. There is a cafeteria on the lower floor, which is also a meeting place for events outside of prayer times. On the first floor there is also the room for Islamic classes , which also serves as a prayer room for women. There is parking in front of the building.

Club life

In 2015, the mosque association had around 520 members. The current club president for the 2014/2015 term of office is Nazim Demolli. Over 80 students attend weekly Islam classes, which are led by Imam Enes Koshi. The mosque is open at all five times of prayer. In addition, the Imam gives weekly sermons on Friday evenings and on Sundays.

In 2012 and 2015, the Islamic-Albanian community of Al-Shems organized an “Open House” in the mosque.

Web links

Commons : Al-Shems Mosque  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Decision of the administrative court of June 20, 2005. In: Courts of the Canton of St. Gallen. Retrieved November 29, 2015 .
  2. ↑ Open doors - open discussion in: ostschweiz-am-sonntag.ch, article from September 10, 2012
  3. ↑ Open doors in the mosque in: ostschweiz-am-sonntag.ch, article from June 2, 2015
  4. ↑ Gert Bruderer: Mosque: «There were never complaints». In: Tagblatt. May 26, 2012. Retrieved November 29, 2015 .
  5. ^ Rebstein: Doors of the mosque open to everyone in: rheintaler.ch, article from May 29, 2015

Coordinates: 47 ° 24 '5.3 "  N , 9 ° 35' 17.3"  E ; CH1903:  762,242  /  252294