India has opened its first glass mosque and the biggest in the northeast Meghalaya state that is expected to draw hundreds of tourists to the marvelous worshipping house.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe mosque will mark the unity of all religions,\u201d Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs Vincent H Pala told The Times of India.<\/p>\n
Pala also highlighted the \u201cuniqueness\u201d of the mosque and its \u201cspirit\u201d.Built in Shillong city, the capital of Meghalaya state, Madina Masjid is the first glass mosque in India.<\/p>\n
The four-storey building – 120 feet high and 61 feet wide \u2014 stands inside an Idgah Complex in the city\u2019s Lahan area and is close to the garrison grounds along the Umshyrpi River.<\/p>\n
At night, the mosque\u2019s glasswork glows and glitters.<\/p>\n
Being the biggest mosque in the area, the 120-feet Medina Mosque will allow women to offer prayers and also house an orphanage.<\/p>\n
It also includes a new theological institute that would host Islamic teachings and a library that would have books on comparative religious studies.<\/p>\n
Attending the inauguration event, legislator Syeedullah Nongrong, who is also president of the Shillong Muslim Union, praised the new mosque role in attracting new tourists to the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe mosque will also be a tourist attraction,\u201d Nongrong said.<\/p>\n
Muslims account for 160 million of India’s 1.1 billion people, the world’s third-largest Muslim population after those of Indonesia and Pakistan.<\/p>\n
Indian Muslims have long suffered decades of social and economic neglect and oppression.<\/p>\n
They are under-represented in public sector jobs, register lower educational levels and hit by higher unemployment rates.<\/p>\n
Source: OnIslam & Newspapers<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" India has opened its first glass mosque and the biggest in the northeast Meghalaya state that is expected to draw hundreds of tourists to the marvelous worshipping house.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n