A second mosque is being built on the Croatian coast in Umag!

The construction of the Islamic Cultural Center in Umag, Croatia, begins tomorrow with the laying of the foundation stone, reports the Bosnian news agency Patria (NAP).

After Rijeka, which last year received one of the most beautiful mosques in Europe, the Islamic Cultural Center in Umag will be the second Islamic center located on the coast of the Croatian sea.

Elvedin ef. Posavljak, imam from Umag told NAP that Bosniaks in this part of the Istrian Peninsula have been waiting for this moment for 13 years. Now they are happy because they have reached a time when they can freely express their religious feelings.

- Allah Almighty willed that those who opposed the construction of this center disappear from the political scene. Now new people have come, a new era, and it is much better and much nicer for us Bosniaks in this beautiful city – said ef. Posavljak.

The Islamic Cultural Center in Umag will be built 400 meters from the sea, will cover more than 500 square meters, and its construction will cost around one million marks. The construction will be financed by the congregation, the diaspora, and part of the funds will also be provided by the Meshihat of the Islamic Community in Croatia.

Appearance of the future Islamic center: The value of the investment is one million marks
In addition to a prayer hall, the center will also have many accompanying facilities such as an imam's apartment, a meeting room, a classroom for children, a library...

- We still have not received permission for the construction of a minaret, but we hope that the local authorities will approve that soon as well. We are not asking for the minaret to be in a classic oriental style; we would not mind if it were in the shape of a lighthouse – says ef. Posavljak.

Ef. Posavljak: Nearly a thousand Muslims live in Umag, mostly Bosniaks

Currently, nearly 1,000 Muslims live in Umag. Most of them are Bosniaks from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Montenegro, as well as Muslims from Kosovo and Macedonia.

The settlement of Bosniaks in the territory of the municipality of Umag began in the 1940s, most often due to economic migrations.