Cempaka Belanda: Dutch mosque design misunderstood

"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) - (Text version)

"The Timing of the Great Shift" – Mar 21, 2009 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“ … Here is another one. A change in what Human nature will allow for government. "Careful, Kryon, don't talk about politics. You'll get in trouble." I won't get in trouble. I'm going to tell you to watch for leadership that cares about you. "You mean politics is going to change?" It already has. It's beginning. Watch for it. You're going to see a total phase-out of old energy dictatorships eventually. The potential is that you're going to see that before 2013.
They're going to fall over, you know, because the energy of the population will not sustain an old energy leader ..."

"Update on Current Events" – Jul 23, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: The Humanization of God, Gaia, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Benevolent Design, Financial Institutes (Recession, System to Change ...), Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Nuclear Power Revealed, Geothermal Power, Hydro Power, Drinking Water from Seawater, No need for Oil as Much, Middle East in Peace, Persia/Iran Uprising, Muhammad, Israel, DNA, Two Dictators to fall soon, Africa, China, (Old) Souls, Species to go, Whales to Humans, Global Unity,..... etc.)

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. …”

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Dutch mosque design misunderstood

Radio Netherlands Worldwide, by Michel Hoebink, November 2009 - 2:14pm

Mevlana Moskee Rotterdam (Foto: ANP)

Traditional mosques with domes and minarets express unwillingness to integrate. That is what Dutch people often think. But research by architectural historian Eric Roose shows that those who commission the design of Dutch mosques only want to express what Islamic movement they belong to.

Mosques are an increasingly prominent feature of the Dutch landscape. Some Dutch people feel annoyed by this, especially when the mosques are richly equipped with oriental embellishments, domes and minarets. Others, however, feel that Muslims are now part of Dutch society and have the right to mark their identity in the Dutch landscape.

Anthropologist and architectural historian Eric Roose takes an original position in this debate. In his dissertation he meticulously describes the decision-making process around the design of twelve Dutch mosques. The patrons who commission the design of these mosques, it turns out, have motives beyond the desire to assimilate into Dutch society or not.

***

-Traditional mosques in the Netherlands are a sign of failing integration. What is your comment?

Eric Roose: The Dutch people are obsessed by the issue of integration of Muslims. Many can only understand Dutch mosque design from that perspective. Traditional Dutch mosques are either viewed as a sign of failing integration or as a sign of emancipation of Muslims in Dutch society. My research challenges this perspective. It reveals that the patrons who commission the design of the mosques are not in the least preoccupied with these issues. What they want with their design is to express their allegiance to some Islamic views and movements as opposed to others.

-One of the mosques described in your dissertation is the El-Islam mosque in The Hague. Don’t you think that the design of that mosque is a typical sample of nostalgia architecture?

The El-Islam mosque indeed has a typical Moroccan design. The patrons wanted their design to remind people of the official Islam of the Moroccan royal family. But as you know, many Dutch Moroccans are of Berber origin and have strong reservations against the royal family. So in fact the design has very little to do with nostalgia or homesickness.

With the Assalam mosque in Rotterdam, another of the mosques I investigated, the opposite is the case. The patron is close to the international Muslim Brotherhood. He wants to express a pan-Islamic vision and his dislike of the typical Moroccan Islam. His design is based on the modern Mosque of the prophet in Medina, which in his view is a culmination of all Islamic architectural styles.

-Also the Salafism movement purports to be an Islam that is detached from its regional cultural context. Is there a good example of a Salafist mosque in the Netherlands?

The Furqan mosque in Eindhoven comes closest to it. There you see that the architect at first brings all kinds of Moroccan elements into the design. But the patron removes these elements one by one, because the design must be plain and sober. The fundamentalist Salafis do not like the exuberant design of later centuries. They want to return to the sobriety of the first generations of Muslims.

-So the patrons want to demonstrate their position within Islam. But does that necessarily mean that they cannot also make a statement to Dutch society?

No, it doesn’t. But such statements are usually rhetorical. The integration debate is a reality they have to deal with. You see that in the beginning of the design process the issue is not discussed, but when the patrons are questioned by journalists and local officials, they start to invent reasons why their design is a statement of integration in Dutch society. The patron of the Essalam mosque in Rotterdam, for instance, once said that his mosque fits very well into the surroundings because if you remove the dome and minarets, it looks like the Rotterdam city hall. These are rationalisations in hindsight.

-Is there more freedom in Europe to express your religious identity in the design of a mosque than there is in Muslim countries?

I think so, yes. The Essalam mosque in Rotterdam could probably not have been built in Morocco, where the building of mosques is subject to strong regulations. Having said this, however, I must emphasize that local authorities in Dutch towns are getting increasingly critical and stubborn where it comes to domes and minarets. So the freedom to express one’s religious identity in mosque design is eroding in the Netherlands.

Eric Roose is Postdoctoral Fellow at the Amsterdam School for Social Science Research (ASSR) of the University of Amsterdam (UvA).

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