Minster Machete was accompanied on his visit last Friday (27 February) by the head of the Islamic Community Abdul Karim Vakil and the Mosque Imam, Sheikh David Munir.
In a statement on the government website, Rui Machete explained the visit was an “attempt to transmit a feeling of thanks and admiration for this community which lives in peace, in openness, in tolerance and cherishes fundamental rights, fulfilling that which is the essence of the Muslim religion, so perverted and betrayed by terrorist extremism.”
The Minister stressed that between “the Portuguese Islamic community, which is made up of people who were born in this country, in official Portuguese-speaking countries, or in other countries there is a spirit of tolerance, freedom and fundamental respect.
“If there was the same spirit in other places we wouldn’t be seeing the terrible things that are happening in Syria, Iraq and Libya”, he said.
The Imam of the central mosque in Lisbon, Sheikh David Munir, affirmed the “Portuguese Islamic community has quality” despite being small in quantity, made up of around 50,000 people.
“We are trying to transmit Islam and therefore the doors to the mosques are always open and receive visits from schools – around 8,000 students per years – companies, the scouts, and anonymous people, to break any ice that there may be.”
“The majority of Muslims in the community”, he added, “are Portuguese, are integrated in society and want peace and to get along well. Any Muslim or citizen who isn’t comfortable in a peaceful environment has a good solution, to emigrate.”
Inaugurated in 1985 the Central Mosque of Lisbon is the main mosque of Lisbon, serving the capital city’s Islamic community. The building was designed by architects António Maria Braga and João Paulo Conceição.
According to research, although permission to build the centre was requested in 1966, it was not granted until 1978 after the 1973 oil crisis and the Arab oil-producing nations gained increasing economic and political status.