Mosque Tours launched
View(s):Mosque Tours, a unique inter-cultural concept where Islamic religious places are opened to the public, was launched last Sunday at Wekanda Jumma Mosque in Slave Island. Henceforth Wekanda Mosque will have an open mosque day every Sunday (morning and evening) when tourists could visit the mosque and be shown around by experienced tour guides.
The first tour group comprised three visitors from the US embassy in Sri Lanka– its Cultural Affairs Officer, Dawn Suni, Press Officer, Joshua Shen and Micky Crome.
The initiative is spearheaded by the Centre for Islamic Studies in association with Discover Islam, Bahrain. Two more historical mosques, the Red Mosque in Pettah and Masjidul Abrar in Beruwala are due to be incorporated into the programme in the near future.
The Mosque Tour Programme was conceived by Syed Raziuddin Ali, a Director of the Bahrain-based Discover Islam organisation in the late 1980s. It is presently run in a number of countries including Bahrain, Turkey, Malaysia and Singapore.