It would be a good idea if the Prime Minister were to put Willie Mangion onto a new assignment to find a large, central, Mecca facing warehouse which can be used for another kind of practice – this time a Religious practice or Friday prayers for the ever growing congregation of Muslims in Malta.
Last February ’15 Mangion said “I give a helping hand in anything cultural, be it activities tied to Notte Bianca or carnival, so I hope that my contract does not end here,” he said, adding that he has a lot to offer the culture sector. This was when he had located the site for the new studio complex in Marsa to be used as a rehearsal venue for bands and for a carnival village.
His experience in finding locations for a gathering will surely come in handy and hopefully relieve Msida of the recent flood of worshippers, kneeling over the pavement giving their collective behinds to the church, in front of which we are used to genuflecting, seeing as we are passing before the presence of Christ.
I remember that when I was in Israel visiting the Holy Land, I happened to sit myself down on the church steps for a brief rest but no sooner had I touched the ground that a soldier came out of nowhere gesticulating madly at me to get up because it was not proper for my posterier to touch the ground in that way.
But here in Malta we are not so scrupulous. Some people have remarked that wild and drunken revellers do all sorts of things outside the church on the day of the Festa so why should anything else be deemed improper? Well, so did King David make a spectacle of himself:
2 Samuel 20, 21
“His joy on bringing the Ark to Jerusalem was so great that he danced and sang and his wife took offence.
When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!”
21 David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the Lord. 22 I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.”
To praise God with our customary celebrations is part of our ritual and tradition, although, of course there are times when decency can be exceeded and certain enthusiasm would need to be brought under control as is normal in a civil society.
This gathering in Msida, by the many Muslims who came there to pray, is indirectly challenging equality and freedom of religion, by imposing Islam onto the majority who pass by. It is assuming rights which are not afforded to other civilised organisations. In ignoring the beliefs of the congregation coming out of Church right behind them, they are basically putting themselves above civil law, permit or no permit, in so much as people are meant to worship within a defined space created for that purpose – at home, in a church, a synagogue or a mosque.
We have seen that in France they banned outside Mosques and will no longer allow the prayers to take place on the street. A French ban on praying in the street came into force in September, driving thousands of Muslim worshippers in northern Paris into a makeshift prayer site in a disused fire brigade barracks, angering a small but vocal minority. In Italy, the locations of mosques are to be of a certain distance from churches or other community centres.
In a CBN interview one French man said about the street gathering: "They are coming there to show that they can take over some French streets to show that they can conquer a part of the French territory," he said. Whether or not this is the intention of our friends at Msida, it may be interpreted by some as being so.
I am sure there are other religions or religious groups in Malta that seek larger premises and they seek donations and contributions to fund any new places where they can meet. What would happen if the bands that could not find a place to rehearse started jamming away on the pavement in the middle of the traffic in Msida? I am sure that protest would be quick and they would probably have never been issued with a permit. Mosta residents, at that time totalling not more than 1500, built the spectacular church by their own hands. It took them 27 years to complete but that was part of our history and the spiritual faith we embraced. It was not built or donated ready-made by the state.
We cannot have a country with double standards. There is a hint of power creep which is incompatible with life in a modern society and can lead to inequality, discrimination and division amongst the population. This public gathering goes beyond the spirit of the law and crosses the boundaries of what cultural coherence and secularism are about. There is a broader narrative and even if ordinary people do not have the means to express exactly what they are feeling it does not mean that they do not perceive that something is not right about these special privileges that are being granted to a group of people on the basis of their religion.
In the long distant past people did not have the formal way of dressing and clothing themselves as we do now. They went about with simple coverings made of animal skins or other material. Nowadays, society has evolved a way of dressing which allows normal interaction between people and expresses our dignity. Work ethics also demand that we dress in a sophisticated manner when representing businesses, institutions and on special occasions, such as for Sunday mass. Similarly, our customary place of worship evolved from mountain tops to temples and churches or synagogues or mosques. The street is for the general public who should not have to do an obstacle course over a crowd.
It is not surprising then, that European leaders state that integration between immigrants and nationals has not been accomplished. It is a matter of unsynchronised centuries and the gap between those who would take their religion onto the street in public and those who keep it to the appropriate space, is quite wide.
It is a matter too, of organisation and respect. People do not like disorganisation and it can bring tension and disagreements which are best avoided if we are to reside peacefully on this tiny space, growing ever more crowded by the day.
The Police should also be given a more appropriate code to follow when issuing permits and consultation should be mandatory when the case is sensitive to the citizens in general and could set a precedent. There is a difference between a protest march or a bingo night on a hot Summer’s day, to a new habit happening on a regular basis, which may become an established one, in time. Or maybe their list is as outdated as the Paceville Health Inspection Board’s and they have just a one size fits all to choose from. It can control this issue if it acts responsibly and if it recognises that rules sufficient a quarter of a century ago are no longer fit for purpose for the disruptive realities we are facing today. Another matter for Home Affairs to look into for the sake of cultural coherence and order.