Italy only has 8 mosques for an approximately 1.6 million Muslim population according to a social science researcher and author of Mosques of Italy, Maria Bombardieri, Muslims in Italy have about 800 cultural centres and informal prayer rooms, usually in garages, basements and warehouses which they use for various religious and cultural purposes.
This shortage of actual mosques is due to many reasons, one being that Italy does not officially recognise Islam as a religion. Thus, meaning that these eight mosques do not receive protection by the state like other places of worship do. Further, they do not have permission to open schools or access public funding through tax donations, Quartz reported.
Building a mosque is not easy for Italy’s Muslim community. While getting public financing for mosques is a task in itself, authorities do not give permission to build mosques very easily. Bombardieri further said that even if the community gets the opportunity to build one, they prefer keeping the structure as simple as possible to avoid attention from local communities.
According to Boulaalam Abderrahmane Mustafà, the imam of Palermo’s mosque in Sicily, which was ruled by the Arabs between 827 and 1072, Islam is profoundly linked with Italy’s heritage. “There are still Islamic roots in family names,” Mustafà said, adding that he increasingly sees Italians “proud and happy to have such roots.”
This mosque, which opened in 1989, is Italy’s oldest and Mustafà who has served as imam there since 2009, invites local schools to visit the mosque in order to teach them about Islam.
While the imam believed that Italy’s Muslims are proud about their roots, he also confessed that since the terror attacks in Europe, people avoid going to mosques and wearing “visible signs of their religious associations”, for example hijab.
“There is still a lot of ignorance,” Mustafà said, who is adamant that the only way forward is through integration. There is a cultural center under construction set to open later this year that he wants to be a place for all religions.
“Islam is a way to live with others, not to divide. We are Italians,” he continues, “we can never forget the hospitality. We have to get closer to others.”
