On Google Maps, when observing the city of Tours, two mosques are indicated: the first by a blue crescent, rue Lobin, next to the cross indicating the cathedral; and, further south of the city, with a red crescent, the great mosque, on the banks of the Cher. It says that the establishment is temporarily closed. For Salah Merabti, the president of the Islamic Community of Indre-et-Loire (CIIL), the temporary has lasted far too long.
A few days after the start of Ramadan, the man over 70 no longer even dares to hope for an upcoming inauguration, because it has been so often postponed… “We initiated this construction project under the mandate of Mayor Jean Germain, in 1995. The work could not begin until 2008, and today there are 2 million euros to collect to complete the project. »
When he goes to the site every day, the one who is the contracting authority for the project alongside the Paris mosque (which oversees the CIIL) contemplates from below the immense dome which crowns more than 20 meters of up the big white concrete shell. Without him, nothing would have been possible: it was his stubbornness that allowed the site to move forward slowly. There is still the last third to complete…
Donation promises not kept
Three levels, 1,000 square meters, a star-shaped ablution basin, large openings intended to be glazed, a wide door whose finishes will be colored with Moroccan zelliges, the future mosque of Tours stands out in this rather sad. It was here, in the Menneton district, on former allotments between a railway line and disused factories, that the decision was taken in 1995, at the instigation of the mayor of Tours and with the agreement of the Islamic Community of Indre-et-Loire, the installation of the future great mosque of the city, capable of accommodating nearly 3,000 faithful.
The land, which was to be given to the Muslim community, was finally sold to it for 73,000 euros in 2005, following an action brought before the administrative court in 2001 by the secular association of Free Thought. “We had to modify the project: the land is located in a flood zone, so we had to do major earthworks and reinforce the foundations,” says the architect Ben Laribi.
“Our biggest donors pay checks for 3,000, 4,000 euros. They are doctors, lawyers in Tours. But, often, they are cash donations of a few tens of euros at the end of Friday prayers. » Mokhtar Boudjellouli, treasurer of the CIIL
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