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Writing this blog retrospective....
We leave on the morning of the fifth to visit the grand mosque in Brussels.... Some how I can't get it out of my head... I have to see this for my self , a mosque , a grand mosque in city where the full Islamic veil is banned.. Call it cultural or religion or a way of life to me it is the curbing of liberties . But there we are in the centre of Brussels ..at the
Parc du Cinquantenaire (French for "Park of the Fiftieth Anniversary", pronounced or Jubelpark (Dutch for "Jubilee Park") is a large public, urban park (30 hectares) in the easternmost part of the European Quarter in Brussels, Belgium.
Most buildings of the U-shaped complex which dominate the park were commissioned by King Leopold II and built for the 1880 National Exhibition commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of Belgian independence. The centrepiece triumphal arch was erected in 1905. The structures were built in iron, glass and stone, symbolising the economic and industrial performance of Belgium. The surrounding 30 hectare park esplanade was full of picturesque gardens, ponds and waterfalls. It housed several trade fairs, exhibitions and festivals at the beginning of the century. This settled however in 1930 when it was decided that Cinquantenaire would become a leisure park,
The Royal Military Museum has been the sole tenant of the northern half of the complex since 1880. The southern half is currently occupied by the Cinquantenaire Art Museum and the AutoWorld Museum. The Temple of Human Passions, a remainder from 1886, and the Great Mosque of Brussels from 1978 are located in the north-western corner of the park...
Great Mosque of Brussels
The Great Mosque of Brussels located in the north-western corner of the park. It is the oldest mosque in Brussels, and is seat of the Islamic and Cultural Centre of Belgium.
The original building was built by architect Ernest Van Humbeek in an Arabic style, to form the east pavilion of the National Exhibition in 1880. The pavilion housed then a monumental fresco; “Panorama of Cairo” which was a major success. However, the lack of maintenance in the twentieth century caused the building to gradually deteriorate.
In 1967, at an official visit to Belgium by at King Faisal ibn Abd al-Aziz of Saudi Arabia, King Baudouin decided the fact that the building was to turn it into a place of worship. The mosque, designed by Arabic architect Tunisian Boubaker, was inaugurated in 1978 in the presence of Khalid ibn Abd al-Aziz and Baudouin.
Today, it also hosts a school and an Islamic research center whose objectives are to know the Muslim faith. The centre also provides courses of Arabic to adults and children, as well as initiations to Islam.
As we say nothing happens without the will of Allah... (God is Greater than any thing) Allahu Akbar.... Our desires our plans our comfort our needs our thoughts...
We pray two units of prayer ad respect for the mosque and come out....
Next is time for breakfast.... The mobile Kettle , corn flakes , sweet bread , the tea ... Allhamdullilah... All thanks is to Allah
We drive next for 2hours towards our next destination , city of Luxembourg by reaching there my wife reminds me on the border..... A shocker .... We have left our papers.... Car V5 , insurance papers etc in hotel
Safe in Brussels ... We turn around!
Second time in Brussels ( who would have thought) and second time in Luxembourg again we reach now at 9pm... Hastily we tour the small city roads....
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