Head of the Muslim Association of Iceland, Ibrahim Sverrir Agnarsson, says the final preparations are being made for the design of a mosque, scheduled to be built on a plot of land on Sogamýri, Reykjavík. “We could in reality break ground – symbolically – after the weekend,” he told visir.is yesterday.
The final design will be decided upon in cooperation with the Association of Icelandic Architects.
The mosque has been under discussion in recent days, ever since the leader of the Progressive Party in Reykjavík, Sveinbjörg Birna Sveinbjörnsdóttir, said she wanted to withdraw the allocation of the plot of land to the Muslim Association of Iceland and that the issue should be voted on in a public referendum.
Sverrir said that the Muslim community has not been upset about the discussion.
“We see this as an opportunity to inform people about the religion. We are aware of this resistance in society and know that the statement has certainly increased the Progressive Party’s following. We see Facebook groups like ‘Protest the Mosque in Iceland’ but then we also see groups like ‘We don’t Protest the Mosque in Iceland,’ which happens to be larger. So, as I say, we are not afraid of the discussion and are not scared of a vote on the issue,” Sverrir said.