IHH-Alsar Foundation in cooperation with TIKA and Konya Selçuklu Municipality opened a 450-people capacity mosque while getting necessary permissions to build a Quran memorization school with 48-student capacity adjacent to the mosque in Albania’s Trush town which is a part of wider Shkodër city.

In 2012 IHH-Alsar Foundation in cooperation with TIKA and Konya Selçuklu Municipality started the construction of a mosque which can accommodate 450-people congregation in Albania’s Shkodër with a Muslim population of 5.034.

Ottoman architecture is a miracle of engineering

The mosque is built according to Ottoman architecture on the land allocated to Alsar Foundation by Berdice Municipality.

The mosque is a marvel of engineering and precise craftsmanship. Its pulpit and altar is carved out of marble. 22 tons of lead and 98 tons of iron were used in its construction.

The mosque features 14 domes and contains one ablution area, one toilet and one well all in all costing €480.000.

Mehdi Gurra, the president of IHH’s partner foundation Alsar Foundation stated that until 2001 75% of the official population of Albania was Muslim but the recent census manipulated it to appear as 57%.

Gurra added that the construction of the mosque is a significant thing for them. “This architecture is a role model for us. We would like to thank the donors from Turkey. May God bless them. I would like to say that with Turks we are beyond friends but brothers in Islam” he said.

The first to school students to learn Quran 

In the meantime, a Quran memorization school with 48-student capacity which will learn Quran by hear is going to be built on 3.000 square metre land which used to be used as a masjid.

Gurra said that the legal permissions are already granted for the project. “We have already found the sponsor for the refurbishment of the school. It is going to cost around €400.000” he said.

Gurra said there is no school in this capacity in Albania yet. “We are hoping to establish an institution in the same style of Quranic schools in Turkey so that we can pass this tradition of learning Quran by heart to the next generation” he said.

IHH-Alsar partnership projects

IHH has realized several projects with Alsar Foundation in Albania. The most important among these are the projects catering to the orphans. 1,403 orphans out of 2,306 orphans supported by Alsar Foundation in Albania are supported by IHH through “Orphan Sponsorship System” funded by Turkish donors. Another noteworthy project is distribution of materials for the social lives of those convicts in Albanian prisons.