All people with an open mind, heart and soul are welcome to the new mosque and Islamic center in Sisak, regardless of their religion, Sisak chief imam Alem Crankic told Hina news agency on the eve of the opening ceremony of the religious complex, for which on Thursday Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also arrives.
The new Islamic center will cover an area of about 2,600 square meters and is the third Islamic center in Croatia after those in Zagreb and Rijeka. In Croatia, there is also a smaller mosque in Gunja, which is the first and oldest in the country, and a smaller Islamic center in Umag, Bosnian portal Klix and Hina news agency reported, quoted by BTA.
Already on the weekend after the opening, the Center organizes open days for Sisak residents and other interested parties to visit.
One fifth of the complex is a place for prayers, and the remaining approximately 2,000 square meters are intended for all visitors.
“If Muslims wanted to build this building for themselves, they would only build a mosque. We welcome all people with an open mind, heart and soul, regardless of their religious affiliation, all who are open to meeting and getting to know others,” the young imam emphasized.
In addition to the prayer area, the Center has multipurpose classrooms designed for religious students as well as other forms of learning, such as Islamic culture. There is also a restaurant with Islamic specialties and a large convention center that can host interfaith conferences.
There is also a “sofa room – a space for rest and communication” where visitors will be able to read in an oriental setting with a hot drink.
A feature of the mosque in Sisak is its energy efficiency, which is why it is called the first “eco mosque” in this part of Europe. The center has heat pumps, solar panels and a photovoltaic plant of 30 kilowatt hours.
Crankic points out that he is especially glad that the mosque also has an ecological aspect, because humanity is “getting more and more warnings about the extent to which it is its own enemy and how it will destroy itself” if it does not think about the environment.
Photo by Yağmur Baltacı:
