Havana's only mosque is a haven for Cuba's small Muslim community

Havana's Habana Vieja neighbourhood serves as a hub for the city's tourism industry, featuring colonial buildings, hotels, restaurants, and souvenir shops. Nestled within this bustling area is Havana's only mosque, the Abdallah Mosque, which caters to the city's small Muslim community. Imam Aqil Alexis Sanchez Tamayo, one of the mosque's imams, explains that the city's tourism industry once attracted many foreign Muslim visitors, but they were always amazed at finding a mosque in Cuba.

The mosque, which opened in 2015, was built in the former site of a classic car museum with a design team from Saudi Arabia. With a capacity of around 2,000 people, it has become the nerve centre of Cuba's Islamic community since Ramadan of that year. Despite Cuba's communist government discouraging public displays of religion, a landmark agreement between Havana and Saudi Arabia in 2022 facilitated the mosque's construction. Saudi Arabia was the first Arab country to establish formal diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1956.

Prior to the construction of the Abdallah Mosque, the only mosque accessible to diplomats and foreign residents of Havana was located within the Arab history museum, Casa del Arabe. The new mosque serves the entire Muslim community in Cuba, welcoming both local residents and foreign visitors. With only about 8,000 Muslims in the country, a mix of Cuban converts and resident foreigners, the mosque plays a crucial role in their religious practices.

Imam Sanchez Tamayo himself converted to Islam over 20 years ago after studying in Turkey and has held leadership positions within the Islamic League of Cuba. The mosque is led by three imams - two from Palestine and himself - who take turns conducting Friday prayers. Plans are underway for a larger mosque in the same area, also with support from Riyadh, which will be bigger and offer more accommodations and services than the current one.

For Imam Sanchez Tamayo, the mosque symbolizes the resilience of the Cuban people in the face of various challenges, including the slowdown in tourism following the Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing impact of U.S. sanctions. These factors, coupled with a scarcity of essential resources, have made life "stressful" for many Cubans. Nevertheless, he maintains a strong sense of faith and resilience, believing that everything in their lives is decreed by Allah.