{"id":70793,"date":"2020-11-05T14:15:34","date_gmt":"2020-11-05T14:15:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/?p=70793"},"modified":"2020-11-05T14:15:36","modified_gmt":"2020-11-05T14:15:36","slug":"athens-finally-gets-a-mosque","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/news\/70793-athens-finally-gets-a-mosque\/","title":{"rendered":"Athens finally gets a mosque"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"692\" height=\"365\" src=\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/11\/photo_2020-11-05_11-10-09.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-70801\" srcset=\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/11\/photo_2020-11-05_11-10-09.jpg 692w, https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/11\/photo_2020-11-05_11-10-09-300x158.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 692px) 100vw, 692px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p>The first mosque in the Greek capital, Athens, has opened after 14 years of wrangling and bureaucratic delays, local media reported.<br>The mosque\u2019s inaugural prayers were held on Monday evening under physical distancing measures due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases in Greece, as in much of Europe. Only a handful of people were able to attend.<br>With the opening, Athens shakes off its status as the only European Union capital to lack a mosque, Anadolu Agency reported.<br>The mosque\u2019s first imam is Zaki Mohammed, 49, a Greek citizen of Moroccan origin, Greek daily Ekathimerini said.<br>The opening of the mosque \u201csends a clear message \u2026 of democracy, religious freedom and respect,\u201d the government secretary for religious issues, Giorgos Kalantzis, was quoted by Kathimerini newspaper as saying.<br>Opposition from the Greek Orthodox Church had delayed the opening of the mosque since 1979. It took years even after the government gave the go-ahead in 2006.<br>The 2006 decision to build a mosque with a budget of $1.04m was held up by bureaucratic hurdles, protests by far-right groups, and legal challenges.<br>The vast majority of Greeks, 97 percent, are Orthodox Christians.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The first mosque in the Greek capital, Athens, has opened after 14 years of wrangling and bureaucratic delays, local media reported.The mosque\u2019s inaugural prayers were held on Monday evening under physical distancing measures due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases in Greece, as in much of Europe. Only a handful of people were able &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":70801,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_108372464460192_245495985553329":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[18,31,30],"tags":[337,214],"class_list":["post-70793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa","category-news","category-world","tag-athens","tag-mosque"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Athens finally gets a mosque - Shia Waves<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/news\/70793-athens-finally-gets-a-mosque\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Athens finally gets a mosque - Shia Waves\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The first mosque in the Greek capital, Athens, has opened after 14 years of wrangling and bureaucratic delays, local media reported.The mosque\u2019s inaugural prayers were held on Monday evening under physical distancing measures due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases in Greece, as in much of Europe. Only a handful of people were able &hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/news\/70793-athens-finally-gets-a-mosque\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shia Waves\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-11-05T14:15:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-11-05T14:15:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/11\/photo_2020-11-05_11-10-09.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"692\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"365\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Behnam\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Behnam\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/news\/70793-athens-finally-gets-a-mosque\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/news\/70793-athens-finally-gets-a-mosque\/\",\"name\":\"Athens finally gets a mosque - Shia Waves\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/news\/70793-athens-finally-gets-a-mosque\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/news\/70793-athens-finally-gets-a-mosque\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/11\/photo_2020-11-05_11-10-09.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-11-05T14:15:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-11-05T14:15:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/#\/schema\/person\/2dfb3393817ea58c2022356ed0dc4ed9\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/news\/70793-athens-finally-gets-a-mosque\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/news\/70793-athens-finally-gets-a-mosque\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/news\/70793-athens-finally-gets-a-mosque\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/11\/photo_2020-11-05_11-10-09.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/11\/photo_2020-11-05_11-10-09.jpg\",\"width\":692,\"height\":365},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/news\/70793-athens-finally-gets-a-mosque\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Athens finally gets a mosque\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/\",\"name\":\"Shia Waves\",\"description\":\"Just another ShiaWaves site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/#\/schema\/person\/2dfb3393817ea58c2022356ed0dc4ed9\",\"name\":\"Behnam\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/author\/mahdi007\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Athens finally gets a mosque - Shia Waves","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/news\/70793-athens-finally-gets-a-mosque\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Athens finally gets a mosque - Shia Waves","og_description":"The first mosque in the Greek capital, Athens, has opened after 14 years of wrangling and bureaucratic delays, local media reported.The mosque\u2019s inaugural prayers were held on Monday evening under physical distancing measures due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases in Greece, as in much of Europe. Only a handful of people were able &hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/news\/70793-athens-finally-gets-a-mosque\/","og_site_name":"Shia Waves","article_published_time":"2020-11-05T14:15:34+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-11-05T14:15:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":692,"height":365,"url":"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/11\/photo_2020-11-05_11-10-09.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Behnam","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Behnam","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/news\/70793-athens-finally-gets-a-mosque\/","url":"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/news\/70793-athens-finally-gets-a-mosque\/","name":"Athens finally gets a mosque - Shia Waves","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/news\/70793-athens-finally-gets-a-mosque\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/news\/70793-athens-finally-gets-a-mosque\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/11\/photo_2020-11-05_11-10-09.jpg","datePublished":"2020-11-05T14:15:34+00:00","dateModified":"2020-11-05T14:15:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/#\/schema\/person\/2dfb3393817ea58c2022356ed0dc4ed9"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/news\/70793-athens-finally-gets-a-mosque\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/news\/70793-athens-finally-gets-a-mosque\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/news\/70793-athens-finally-gets-a-mosque\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/11\/photo_2020-11-05_11-10-09.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/11\/photo_2020-11-05_11-10-09.jpg","width":692,"height":365},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/news\/70793-athens-finally-gets-a-mosque\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Athens finally gets a mosque"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/#website","url":"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/","name":"Shia Waves","description":"Just another ShiaWaves site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/#\/schema\/person\/2dfb3393817ea58c2022356ed0dc4ed9","name":"Behnam","url":"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/author\/mahdi007\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70793"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70793\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70802,"href":"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70793\/revisions\/70802"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}