By Alagie Manneh
Hundreds of Gambians and other African migrants in the Spanish city of Barcelona, Sunday turned out to grace the da’wah of Gambian scholar and imam Chebo Cham.
The top cleric left The Gambia last week to embark on his Islamic tour of Spain and other parts of Europe at the invitation of Allagnato Addawato wat-Taaleem, a committee of the Masjid Bilal in Barcelona.
In a da’wah delivered from a crowded Masjid Bilal, Imam Cham harped at length on the importance of family and the upbringing of children in Islam.
In an interview, the imam said he was overwhelmed by the size of the crowd that came to listen to his preaching.
On Friday, Imam Cham will deliver his first sermon at the same mosque in Barcelona.
According to Mustapha Fatty, the secretary of the mosque committee, the crowd was so much that some worshippers had to stand and listen from outside the mosque to what Chebo had to say.
He said that the Masjid Bilal, built in 2010, intends to invite at least one prominent cleric from Africa every year to deliver sermons across Spain. The members of the Masjid Bilal committee are made of migrants from The Gambia, Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Guinea Bissau and others. Imam Cham is expected to be in Europe until at least early September, and the organisers have called for Muslims in The Gambia to turn out in their numbers for the return of the top cleric.
