The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, awarded the former president of the Islamic Community of Lisbon (CIL) Abdool Vakil with the Grand Cross of the Order of Infante D. Henrique.
According to a note released today on the website of the Presidency, dated Monday, the award took place in a restricted ceremony at the Palácio de Belém.
The Order of Infante D. Henrique aims to distinguish those who have provided relevant services to Portugalin the country and abroad, as well as services in the expansion of Portuguese culture or to get to know Portugal, its history and its values, according to the Belém website.
Abdool Vakil presided over the CIL for 33 yearshaving succeeded him as Mahomed Iqbal in July 2020.
The Islamic Community of Lisbon was established in 1968 by a group of Muslim university students, including Abdool Vakil, who was studying in the Portuguese capital at the time, coming from the former Portuguese overseas provinces.
The first request for land, made to the Lisbon City Council for the construction of a Mosque, was in 1966, by a commission made up of five Muslims and five Catholics, however, it was not until September 1977 that a piece of land was left on José Malhoa Avenue.
The laying of the first stone took place in January 1979 and the inauguration of the first phase of construction took place on March 29, 1985.
The Lisbon Central Mosque is a project by the architects António Braga and João Paulo Conceição, and its imam is Sheikh David Munir.
Source: Observadora
