Algeria Opened the New Chinese-Built Mega Mosque
Algeria’s new Grand Mosque, the largest mosque in Africa, hosted its first public prayers yesterday — 18 months after the China State Construction Engineering Corporation completed construction.
The new mosque, known locally as the Djamaa El-Djazair, occupies 27.75 hectares (almost 70 acres) and can accommodate as many 120,000 people.
China’s role in building the facility strikes many as ironic, particularly in the U.S. and Europe who closely follow events in Xinjiang where China has interned more than a million Uighur Muslims.
For example, news of the opening of the Grand Mosque on Wednesday prompted an interesting exchange on Twitter between Hong Kong-based CNN journalist Jenni Marsh and Wake Forest University Assistant Professor Lina Benabdallah:
JENNI MARSH: “It is kind of amazing that China has built Africa’s largest mosque, considering its assault on Islam on home soil.”
LINA BENABDALLAH: “Not that surprising actually. It was transactional. The only people on the losing end of this transaction are citizens who, if consulted, would have had the same Chinese companies build hospitals.”
JENNI: “An Islamic place of worship being built by a company run by a government that is carrying out what has been characterized by some as a genocide against a Muslim group in China just seems like it can’t be written off as simply business.”
LINA: “I don’t disagree, just clarifying that this was contractual work and not a “gift” or “aid” – The mosque is plenty political but the decision on what enterprise was to build it was actually pretty simple.”
JENNI: I am just surprised that Muslims would want to worship in a mosque built by a Chinese SOE. Obviously, they didn’t get a choice, and plenty of Muslim governments who do read the headlines still happily deal with China so [emoji of a woman shrugging].”
LINA: “Yeah although those are technically the same people who use a highway built by a Chinese SOE. I guess it’s more ironic but no less problematic.”
Read more on this story on the FRANCE 24 website.
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The post Algeria Opened the New Chinese-Built Mega Mosque appeared first on The China Africa Project.
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