El-Badr Mosque

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The El-Badr Mosque (French: Mosquée El-Badr) is a mosque located in the 1st arrondissement of Marseille, France. Acquired by the Al Badr Muslim Association in 2016, the building was a former Jewish synagogue called the Or Thora Synagogue, also referred to as the Or Torah Synagogue ('Light of the Torah' synagogue),[1] that was established by pieds-noirs in 1962.

Prior to acquiring the former synagogue at 14 rue Saint Dominique, the mosque was located at 206 Chemin Saint-Joseph à Sainte-Marthe.

History

As a synagogue

The synagogue was established by pieds-noirs from French Algeria in 1962.[2][3] It is located on the Rue Saint Dominique, off the Boulevard d'Athènes, between the Gare de Marseille-Saint-Charles and the Canebière, in the 1st arrondissement of Marseille.[4]

As a result of antisemitism in Marseille, the synagogue ceased operating.

As a mosque

Concurrently, the nearby mosque, run by the Al Badr Muslim Association, was unable to handle the weekly overcrowding.[1] The synagogue building was sold in 2016 for €400,000 to the Al Badr Muslim Association, a Muslim organization. The Association planned to turn it into a mosque[2][5][6][7] to accommodate some of the, as of 2016, approximately 220,000 Muslims living in Marseille.[8]

Conversion of the building to a mosque was completed in the c. 2020s.

References

  1. 1.[1.2]Meotti, Giulio (June 18, 2017). "Allah takes over churches, synagogues". Egret News. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
  2. 2.[2.2]Fiorito, Jean-Jacques (April 26, 2016). "Marseille : la synagogue s'offre aux musulmans". La Provence (in French). Retrieved April 27, 2016.
  3. 3."A Marseille, une synagogue bientôt transformée en mosquée". L'Express (in French). April 26, 2016. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
  4. 4."Les Synagogues". Consistoire de Marseille (in French). Retrieved April 27, 2016.
  5. 5."Sold Marseille synagogue to become mosque". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. April 26, 2016. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
  6. 6.Peyrach, Amaury (April 26, 2016). "A Marseille, une synagogue va devenir une mosquée". Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved April 27, 2016.
  7. 7.Arbaoui, Larbi (May 6, 2016). "Muslim Association Purchase Synagogue, Converts it to Mosque". Morocco World News. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  8. 8.Kaplan, Michael (April 2016). "Muslim Population Growing In France: Marseille Synagogue To Convert To Mosque". International Business Times. Retrieved November 8, 2025 – via Sailan Muslim.