The number om Muslims in Norway is now seven times higher than it was 20 years ago, and is already the second largest religious denomination in the country, after the Norwegian Lutheran State Church, Vaart Land reports.

In the year 2000 there were 75000 Muslims registered in Norway, a doubling from 1990.

There are 24 active mosques and 40 Islamic organizations in Norway.

24. July 2001

Norway's first Muslim school popular

Norway's first Muslim primary school is popular. All the 75 places were filled two weeks after it opened.

Now more than 100 pupils are on a waiting list.

-This shows that Muslim parents want their children to attend a school which does not come into conflict with their faith, says Trond Ali Lindstad, principal of the school, which is located in Oslo.

And different from ordinary Norwegian public schools, the Muslim school will have a special room for prayer, will spend more time on teaching Norwegian and have separate gym for girls and boys.

28. Desember 2000

Historic visit by Oslo Bishop

Oslo's Lutheran Bishop Gunnar Staalsett wrote Norwegian church history when he paid a visit to Oslo's largest Muslim Mosque on Wednesday.

This was the first time a bishop from the Church of Norway visited a mosque. Earlier, similar contacts have taken place at Christms lunches on "neutral territory".

Staalsett felt the vist was appropriate at this time, since it came at the end of the Ramadan, which this year coinsides with Christmas. This occurs only every 36th year.

The Bishop said it was important to use the important Muslim day of Id to mark solidarity and tolerance towards each other. He said his visit was not intended to show a wish for the two religions coming together.

-There is no wish for mixing religions, but to work for a deeper understanding for each other, Staalsett said.

29. April 2002

Make use of the Koran in Norwegian courts

Muslims brought before Norwegian courts ought to swear to tell the truth on the Koran, says Abid Q. Raja, spokesman for Norway's largest Islamic congregation, World Islamic Mission.

Raja is also advisor to Justice Minister Odd Einar Doerum, and member of the Board for Crime Prevention.

-For a Muslim, who has sworn on the Koran, it will be unacceptable to lie during criminal proceedings, says Raja to Aftenposten.

However, the proposal has been rejected by the Undersecretary of State of the Justice Department, Joern Holme, and by the head of the Parliamentary Justice Committee, Trond Helleland.

-What happens in a Norwegian Court should be independent of your religion, Helleland says.

7 February 2002

Imams obsessed with sex, government minister says

Regional Minister Erna Solberg says she is shocked by the condescending attitude to Norwegian women by imams and other Islamic religous leaders in Norway.

In Solberg's opinion, the Muslim leaders are conveying an image of Norwegian women as being on the whole both promiscous and unfaithful.

She is most worried about the damage caused by the imams within the immigrant commmunities, Bergens Tidende writes.

-I have personally met with imams for talks, and it strikes me that many of them live and work here without gaining a knowledge of Norwegian society. They come to this country and hardly known how to speak Norwegian. This must be a serious problem for the Muslim congregations, Solberg says.

She believes that the attitudes held by the imams give boys from the immigrant communities a wrong picture of Norwegian girls.

-In this way they harm immigrant youth, because through their behaviour they enforce prejudices against Norwegian society, Solberg says.

Solberg said the government would now introduce a far more effective and binding teaching programme in the Norwegian language.

Up to now language training has been an offer, but will from now on become obligatory.

(NRK/AftenpostenAften)

Rolleiv Solholm

2. April 2002

Church leaders: Norway must increase pressure on the US and Israel

Oslo Bishop Gunnar Staalsett and Secretary General of the Norwegian Council of Churches, Stig Utnem, asks Norway to put greater pressure on the US to stop the Israeli military strategy.

Their latest reaction came after a catholic priest was killed and several nuns injured during an Israeli advancement in Bethlehem on Tuesday.

-This is dramatic, but on the other hand it shows what the Palestinians have been subjected to for a long time. The disgust we feel regarding the Israeli attacks should not be dependent on whether or not it is Christians or Muslims (that are attacked), Staalsett says.

-I react with shock and horror. I don't understand how the Israeli authorities kan live with the knowledge that they are attacking peaceful priests and nuns, Utnem says.

Both Utnem and Staalsett are of the opinion that the Norwegian Government has a moral obligation to put a greater pressure on the US and Israel to stop the Israeli occupation.

24. November 2000

Parliament rejects proposal for ban on Muslim call to prayer

A proposal by the Progress Party (FrP) to ban Muslim prayer calls through mosque loudspeakers has been rejected by Parliament, on the grounds that it would violate human rights.

The majority states that in general, prayer calls must be allowed, subject to approval by the local authorities, noise restrictions and other by-laws.

FrP leader Carl I.Hagen had also called for new legislation to regulate the integration of immigrants, setting down rules for how they should adapt to Norwegian laws and regulations, culture and traditions, as well as respecting the fact that the Norwegian society is built on basic Christian values.

This proposal was voted down on the grounds that it set standards even Norwegians would not be able to meet. Mutual respect is an important basis for a successful integration, the majority stated.

25. November 2000

Christian MP proposes Imam for Islamic prisoners

Member of Parliament Finn Kristian from the Christian People's Party has demanded that a full time Imam be installed to serve Islamic prisoners in Oslo jails.

-Muslim inmates also have religious needs. It is part of their culture to participate in for example the Friday prayers, Martinsen says to the newspaper Vaart Land.

The National Prison at Ullersmo has since the spring applied for economic support for a test project with a permanent Imam, but has as yet not received a reply from the Justice Department.

At Ullersmo alone, 40-50 Muslim prisoners are depending on volounteer Imams to lead the Friday Prayers.

Martinsen will now raise the subject in Parliament during next week's question time.

8. Februar 2002

Muslims in Norway experience harassment

Muslims in Norway are being harassed in the wake of the terrorist attacks in the US and the murder of the young Kurdish woman Fadime Sahindal in Sweden two weeks ago.

Following the September 11th attacks, warnings were issued against the harassment of Muslims in Norway. Among others, all bishops of the Norwegian Church spoke out and encouraged Christians and Muslims to stand together.

However, leading Muslims now receive slanderous letters, and other Muslims are also harassed, says Head of the Norwegian Islamic Council, Lena Larsen.

8. February 2002

Prime Minister Bondevik provoked by imam statements

The debate around the integration of immigrants into the Norwegian society continues.

Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik says he is provoked when Imam Sohail Ahmed of the Idarah Mosque in Oslo claims that the Norwegian Society is not based on values.

Bondevik appeals to the Muslim society to prevent prejudices from harming the process of integration of immigrants into the Norwegian society.

Sohail Ahmed said on NRK-TV News earlier in the week that in his opinion, the Norwegian society was not built on values.

In a speech, he pointed to the break-up of families, depressions, mental problems among children and HIV as proof of the Norwegian society's lack of values.

Bondevik says that the imam is painting a one-sided picture of the Norwegian society.

-I am provoked by such a one-sided picture of the Norwegian society, and the fact that they clearly do not absorb and appreciate (Norwegian) values like freedom and respect for the choice made by the individual, Bondevik says.

-It is important for a positive integration process that they learn more about which values our society is based on. Then both sides may be able to contribute to a common understanding, rather than possibly ending up in a tough confrontation, the Prime Minister said.

9. February 2002

Muslims demonstrate against forced marriages and harassment

Around 1000 Muslims demonstrated in Oslo on Saturday, protesting against forced marriages and repression of women, but also against harassment of Muslims in Norway.

Representatives from the 18 Islam congregations from the Norwegian Islamic Council and Islamic Mission took part and expressed opposition against, among other things, forced marriages.

Several Muslim groups consider the debate in Norway around forced marriages and the so-called "killing of honour" as harassment of Muslims and of Islam.

Spokesman Abid Raja stressed that Islam is against the oppression of women. He also stated that there is no basis in the Koran for forced marriages and circumcision of women.

-Many with multicultural background are guilty of acts which taint the rest of the multicultural population. This we must stop, and rather be happy that we are living in Norway with the opportunities we are given here, Abid Raja said.

He also attacked the media which in his opinion generalize and stigmatize Muslims based on isolated tragic incidents.