Arab West Report Egyptian press summaries and media research for dialogue

Bahnasā village in Minya witnessed some troubles as people there called for demolishing and reconstructing a mosque built in the design of a church, costing 9.5 million EGP.

 

Dr Ahmad ‘Abd al-Qawī, senior inspector of Bahnasā Antiquities and professor of Islamic and Coptic archeology at Misr University for Science and Technology, stated there are some strange aspects in the story. For example, the project’s general manager of planning is a Coptic woman named Su‘ād Isrā’īl and the architect of the mosque, Majdī Shukrī, is Christian as well. He added that he asked the governor of Minya to amend the minarets, but the project manager stated that this would require demolishing and rebuilding them, and she considered this a waste of public money. Thus, the governor failed to resolve the problem of the minarets.

 

The problem is not only with the design of the minarets, pointed out ^cAbd al-Qawī. There is another problem with the design and height of the mimbar [the place on which the imām stands]

 

Dr Mustafá ‘Azmī Muhammad, archeological inspector in Bahnasā village, asserted that the mosque does not conform to Islamic architecture and stated that this issue should concern Muslims and not only officials.

 

Dr. Muhammad says that Yahyá Hassanīn, the head of Minya Antiquities, is the one to blame for this crisis, as he could have rejected the original design.