I tend to avoid issues on religion, especially when it is a religion I know nothing about. As such I never read that Rushdie book. It was an attack on Islam, I am not Islam and I know next to nothing on the Quran. The people who also knew nothing on the Quran decided to read it and decided that Islam was evil on that reason alone. I never understood that approach.
So when I saw (t https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-65165513) ‘New capital’s lavish mosque angers Egyptians facing poverty’. And it dos not stop there. The article by Imogen James has a lot more shortcomings. First we get “But the unveiling of the new centre and mosque was criticised on social media. It comes at a time when Egypt has been fighting soaring prices, with inflation running at just over 30% in March.” And when we look back to 2022 (source: Arab News) we get “Saudi Arabia is the second largest investor in Egypt, with $6.1 billion poured into 6,017 projects, according to the north African country’s Minister of Trade and Industry Ahmed Samir”, is there any chance that this mosque is one of these investments? I am just asking, I do not know and the article which relies on ‘social media’ sources is not that reliable, are they. As such my question becomes “Blathnaid Healy, how stupid are your people?” However, we need to return to the article. The next part is “Another user said that the mosque remains closed all year, opening every three months so a hundred people can use it, then it is closed again.” I have a few questions here. What sources were investigated? Was this even true? You see, the person in me thinks that any Mosque is open all day for prayer, but that is me. And it is at this point that I would like to call to the Egypt Independent (at https://egyptindependent.com/all-you-need-to-know-about-egypts-islamic-cultural-center-misr-mosque-that-claims-3-guinness-world-records/) who gives us ‘All you need to know about Egypt’s Islamic Cultural Center, Misr Mosque that claims 3 Guinness World Records’ and that starts the race. They also call it an Islamic cultural centre. The photo they sport (see below) shows a building that makes most buildings in the Vatican look vastly inferior.
We are also give given “as well as a group of spacious and multi-storey garages, with a capacity of about 4,000 cars.” Interesting, because they wouldn’t bother for a place opened 3 months a year for 100 people. There is seemingly a lot that the BBC refrained from mentioning. The other photo’s (see the article) show a building that rivals the impressiveness of the Indian Taj Mahal. But the BBC failed to mention that. The one photo we saw by the BBC on the inside was decent, but they refrained from showing us just how spectacular the building was. I wonder if Imogen James ever saw it herself. In case there are any doubts, I wonder if Blathnaid Healy would be so kind to show us photo’s of Imogen James outside of that mosque, and perhaps find a decent journalist to actually cover decent reporting on that building? Even if it is to properly inform the 3.8 million muslims living in the UK. I would do it, but I am short of a job and a passport (and expenses) and I believe the BBC should do a much better job than they are presently doing. That impression is gotten from the three Guinness world book of records that this building achieved to win. One could argue that the BBC should cover that in three articles and a decent fourth on the mosque and one on the services that the Islamic centre covers and Blathnaid, for the love of everything holy cover that and optionally rectify that 100 people per 3 months line. This place was meant for 107,000 worshippers which equals Vatican City, as such covering such an event should show the power and prestige of this mosque. I think its only fair. And as I see it someone named Mr. Healy better get moving because the impression that the BBC has been leaving on the global stage is slipping, it is slipping by a lot. But yes, that is merely my personal view on the matter.
Lawrence van Rijn - Law Lord to be 