Can new mosque boost tourism in Egypt resort town?
As Egypt officially inaugurates an imposing mosque in the resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh in the southern Sinai, officials are hoping it can lure tourists back to the region.
The day of March 24, 2017, is etched into Egyptian architectural history with the inauguration of Al-Sahaba Mosque in the Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh. The mosque, whose name refers to the companions of the Prophet Muhammad, is one of the most important Islamic structures built in the country in the 21st century.
Al-Sahaba Mosque was built combining a pattern of different styles — Fatimid, Mamluk, Ottoman and canonical — to send a message that the Sinai Peninsula, which was once the cradle of religions, is still a place of tolerance and love.
"The aim of mixing different cultures and styles in one structure is to create a kind of interreligious harmony," architect Fouad Tawfik, who designed the mosque, told Al-Monitor.
The first stage in the construction of the mosque was based on donations collected by a charity nongovernmental organization in Sharm el-Sheikh called Al-Moustafa. The foundation stone was laid in October 2010, but work stopped during the January 25 Revolution. The work resumed in April 2011 and was suspended in 2015 due to a lack of donations. Chance played a role in expediting the completion of this magnificent structure when President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was in Sharm el-Sheikh to preside over the Egypt Economic Development Conference that was attended by over 2,000 delegates from 112 different countries.
