The University of Bergen can be the first to offer its own imam of the students. The proposal is cheered by Bergen Mosque.
It is social democratic list at the University of Bergen (UiB), who stand for election to the student parliament in Bergen, who desires to introduce a student imam at the university. It may become Norway’s first institutionalized student imam, according to the newspaper Dagen.
– We live in a multicultural society. There is already a prayer room at the university, and if the argument is to be neutral toward religion, we must remove the prayer room and also the student priests, says Terje-André Kvinlaug, second candidate for Social Democratic list and himself an active member of a Christian church in Bergen.
The chairman of the Bergen Mosque likes the initiative of the Social Democratic students.
– This is amazing. An imam can help with everything, on all lines. He can do the same as a priest for a Christian, the mosque’s chairman Sajjad Younas, said
.
The question however is who is to pick up the bill. Today, student priest are fully funded by the Norwegian Church. An imam scheme must be financed by others, the Social Democrats believe.
– The most important thing is that students should not pay for this. We must find a solution that does not burden the students. They should not be penalized financially for getting a student imam says Kvinlaug.
Source: bt.no / Norway Today
