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Moroccan Lawmaker’s Unauthorized Mosque Sparks Controversy Over Construction and Orientation
Friday 8 March 2019, by
A mosque has just been built in Taza by a PAM deputy. Not only is it seriously in violation of the urban planning code, but even its qibla is not oriented towards Mecca.
We don’t know whether to laugh or cry. According to Al Akhbar, a PAM deputy and businessman, named Abdelouahed El Massaoudi, has just built a mosque which, according to a report from the General Inspection of Territorial Administration (IGAT), is in violation of the urban planning code. And as if that weren’t enough, his actions were covered by a PJD commune president, Jamal Massaoudi.
And that’s not all. The qibla itself is not well oriented. We don’t even know what the worshippers are turning to. It’s hard to know who was called upon to build it. And why he lost his compass.
All this was discovered following an inspection mission organized by the IGAT. The report of the latter indicates that the PJDist Massaoudi authorized several infractions to the urban planning code for the construction of this mosque.