went there for a visit with my class on
representations and realities of islam in france
from wikipedia:
The mosque was founded in 1926 as a token of gratitude, after World War I, to the Muslim tirailleurs fromFrance's colonial empire', of whom some 100,000 died fighting against Germany. The Mosque was built following the mudéjar style, and its minaret is 33 meters high. It was inaugurated by President Gaston Doumergue on July 15, 1926. Ahmad al-Alawi (1869–1934), an Algerian Sufi, founder of the modern Sufi orderDarqawiyya Alawiyya, a branch of the Shadhiliyya, led the first communal prayer to inaugurate the newly built mosque in the presence of the French president. Initially sponsored by the king of Morocco, it was reassigned to Algeria in 1957 by the French Foreign Minister. Under its rector Si Kaddour Benghabrit and clerics duringWorld War II, the mosque served as a secret refuge for those persecuted by the Axis powers, providing shelter, safe passage, and fake Muslim birth certificates for Jewish children.[1] The mosque is currently led bymufti Dalil Boubakeur.
