This mosque, of Moroccan-Andalusian style, which constitutes for the Muslims of the region, an ideal setting to express their faith and practice their prayers in peace, has reopened its doors by welcoming, Monday, the faithful for the Dhuhr prayer.

 For a gradual resumption of its activities, the mosque of Saint Etienne has set up, at the initiative of its rector Larbi Marchiche, "an innovative system for an unprecedented situation".

 "We were getting ready for more than a week to rigorously apply the prescribed sanitary measures," said Afif Youssef, director of cultural affairs at the mosque, in a statement received Tuesday by MAP.

 However, this gradual resumption of prayers does not concern the Friday prayer, which remains suspended until further notice, in accordance with the recommendations of the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM), the main interlocutor of the public authorities in France for the Muslim faith.

 Several measures motivated by the precautionary principle have been undertaken: measuring the temperature of the faithful at the entrance of the mosque, the obligation to wear a mask, a distance of one meter between the faithful, individual plastic bags for shoes, hydro-alcoholic gel made available for hand disinfection, closed parking...

 In addition, three hundred synthetic carpets cleaned and disinfected after each prayer are made available to the faithful who are urged to do their ablutions at home before coming to the mosque.