Finland’s only proper mosque is in Järvenpää

Muslim prayer-houses have been established in converted bank premises and cinemas

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By Tiina Rajamäki
     
      So far there is only the one purpose-built mosque in Finland. The Järvenpää Mosque was erected in the 1940s.
      The timber-framed building also includes a small minaret. A minaret is a tower from which traditionally the calls to prayer have been announced.
      Just as in Switzerland, also in Järvenpää shouting the call from the minaret is not permitted.
      The Järvenpää Mosque belongs to the Islamic congregation of Finland’s Tatars, established in 1925.
      “Apart from the one actual mosque, we can only speak of prayer-houses here in Finland. The majority of the country’s just under forty houses of prayer are in the capital area”, says the Finnish Islamic Association spokesperson Isra Lehtinen.
      In the Helsinki region there are seven sizeable Muslim masjids, for example in Central Helsinki, Munkkiniemi, Itä-Pasila, and Itäkeskus. Prayer-houses have been set up, for example, in converted bank branches and in old cinemas.
     
Lehtinen explains that the Finnish Islamic Association’s long-term plan is to establish an Islamic cultural centre in Helsinki. The centre would also include a mosque.
      “The plan, however, is just in the initial stages. We have set up a working group to map out suitable locations”, says Lehtinen.
      Lehtinen believes that the minaret ban voted through in Switzerland last weekend has more to do with anti-Islamic sentiments than with the Swiss people having something against the minarets themselves.
      In all, 19 Islamic unions and communities belong to the Finnish Islamic Association, in other words the majority of the country’s Islamic organisations.
      According to estimates, there are around 40,000-45,000 Muslims now living in Finland.
     
In architect Hossam Hewidy’s opinion, before getting all agitated about mosques, the Finns should decide what kind of multiculturalism it is that they want.
      Hewidy has just completed his Master’s degree dissertation for the Helsinki University of Technology (soon to be part of the Aalto University), in which he looked into the religious dimensions of the Muslims' housing environment within the Greater Helsinki area.
      “The society should support the cultural differences of all groups - not just the Muslims“, Hewidy says.
      In his view, in Finland many services are currently provided with the wants and desires of a “statistical average person” in mind.
      “For a Finn, his or her religion is a private matter. For Muslims, practicing Islam is part of their everyday life. For that reason alone the idea of a visible mosque raises hackles and opposition. The Muslims, however, have the right to have a place where to practice their religion”, Hewidy adds.
     
According to Kimmo Lapintie, Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at the Helsinki University of Technology, Finland has not yet been in a situation where people would have had to think how the totally new building type might fit in with the urban structure.
      “We have long traditions with fitting building in with the Finnish surroundings. Cultural diversity has not been popular here”, says Lapintie.
      “The controversy starts with the visibility of the place where a religious building is, and what kind of message the structure communicates to its surroundings”, Lapintie adds.
     
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 1.12.2009

More on this subject:
 COMMENTARY: Minarets as assault rifles

Links:
  Finnish Tatars (Wikipedia)
  Islam in Finland (Wikipedia)

TIINA RAJAMÄKI / Helsingin Sanomat
tiina.rajamaki@hs.fi