2024-08-20 19:16:25
The tent city: “It won’t be easy,” Wagishauser told the helpers at the start of the construction. For the first time, a huge open space is being planned, after exhibition halls in Mannheim, Karlsruhe and Stuttgart have been the venue in recent years. The large tent city is also intended to create a greater sense of community. The main halls are also facing towards Mecca – in exhibition halls, believers often had to turn around when praying.
A media center for hall technology and for live TV broadcasts in 13 languages is located between the two largest halls and divides the area: one half is for the men with a main hall for 8,000 people, the other for the women with a large hall for 7,000 women, directly adjacent to a second hall for 1,000 women with small children. In both the men’s and women’s sections of the area there is a large catering tent, sanitary facilities, sleeping tents with mattresses, information areas with stands from various Ahmadiyya departments, and office tents. Pizza and chips are also sold in bazaar areas, while in the catering tents there is free North Indian cuisine, as well as light food.
The structure: Several specialist companies have been commissioned to work on the site, as well as large crane trucks and specialists for tent construction. However, much of the work is done by the volunteers themselves. There are already vehicles on the site with license plates from all over Germany, many with the “Love for all, hate for none” sticker, which the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat uses.
More than 6,000 volunteers will be working every day – and “in a very professional manner,” as the regulatory authority for the Mayen-Koblenz district explained to the Rhein-Zeitung: “There are members in the community for all subject areas who work on such topics as their main job and make their expertise available.” The deputy head of organization, Adeel Abbasi, the contact person for the authorities, is a project manager at Deutsche Bahn.
Gender segregation: The strict gender segregation and headscarf requirement regularly bring public accusations against the religious community. But this is not oppression of women, says Lugman Majoka, who is responsible for the interreligious area. As with other Muslim associations, the focus is on protecting women. Women would appreciate being able to follow the spiritual events in their circle. Women and men have their own organizations in the Ahmadi community, each of which operates independently and plans events.