Rabita Mosque
The Rabita Mosque (Norwegian: Rabita-moskéen) is a mosque in Oslo, Norway that is supervised by Basim Ghozlan. It has around 3,000 active members.[1]
The mosque was visited by King Harald V of Norway and Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway in 2009.[2]
Controversy
The mosque has been criticised for associations with Islamism and extremism.[1][3][4] Critics have pointed to a number of jihadists originating from the mosque, as well as mosque supervisor Ghozlan's tacit support for the Muslim Brotherhood and failure to distance himself from the views of the likes of Yusuf al-Qaradawi.[4] Former members of the mosque includes Hassan Abdi Dhuhulow, a perpetrator of the Kenyan Westgate shopping mall attack who was a prolific user on a website hosted by the mosque, Norwegian convert terrorist Anders Cameroon Østensvig Dale, the first Norwegian suicide bomber in Iraq Jamel Mahmoudi, as well as being the mosque in Norway that has housed the most Norwegian jihadists in Syria and Iraq.[1][4] After being criticised for hosting hate preachers at conferences, the mosque has withdrawn its invitations to certain preachers.[5]
In 2013 a 21 year-old woman died of a heart attack in the mosque, reportedly after being subjected to an exorcism, a procedure officially prohibited by the mosque.[6]
In 2014, the mosque, which is also known by its organisational name The Islamic Association (Norwegian: Det Islamske Forbundet), was listed as a terrorist organisation by the United Arab Emirates along with mosques in Denmark, Sweden and Finland.[7][8] The probable cause for the listing was thought to be that the mosque was identified as being a part of the Muslim Brotherhood.[7] The Nordic governments in a joint diplomatic action requested answers from the Emirates for the causes behind the listings in response.[9]
References
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