The Reykjavík City Council has approved the construction application for a mosque which will be built in Sogamýri, Vísir reports. The council postponed their decision on the application last week, making for yet another delay in an application process which has been ongoing for 13 years. “One is just happy, what more can I say,” commented Sverrir Agnarsson, the chairman of the Muslim Association of Iceland, upon receiving the council’s decision. “It is very good news for Muslims in Iceland.”
“We expect that we’ll be able to break ground in the spring, depending on the results of the design competition for the building,” Sverrir said.
When asked how the mosque would be financed, he said that the project is primarily seeking private funding.
“We have received numerous promises, so I am not very concerned about it. [The mosque] will not be paid for by any extremist organization. We are mostly seeking funding from individual foreigners…we have a right to get support from the collective funds of Muslims. We are doing all of this in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice in order to guarantee that all the money which comes to us is received legally, and is not associated with any terrorist organizations,” Sverrir said.
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