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I was invited by the Architect Mr. Lampeitl and Mr. Wendlandt from the Monument Department of the German Government to attend the ceremony of placing the Cupola atop the South Minaret of the Berlin Mosque on August 27th 2001.

The rebuilding of the South Minaret began a few months ago.  The cost of the project was approximately 250,000 DM of which 30,000 DM were paid by the A.A.I.I.L. U.S.A. as the share of  the Central Anjuman, Lahore. 

I left Columbus on August 25th and reached Berlin on August 26th in the afternoon.  The same evening I had a meeting with Mr. Lampeitl and Mr. Wendlandt.  The next morning at 8.30 a.m. I arrived at the Mosque. About thirty people were present for the ceremony. These included officials of the Monument Department, sponsers, workers and members of the Press.

The ceremony began by a speech by Mr. Lampeitl, the Architect, who gave a short presentation of the renovation work done on the Mosque, Mission House and the Minarets.

He was followed by Mr. Alexandar Strabmeir who is incharge of property in  the Wilmersdorf area of Berlin.

The last speech was mine in which I thanked the Monument Department, Mr. Wendlandt and Mr. Lampeitl for their support and hard work.  I stressed the fact that they had not only preserved a Monument, but had also helped to ensure that the spirit of Islamic peace, tolerance and brotherly relations which this Mosque stood for would also endure.

After the speeches the crane lifted the Cupola and placed it on top of the Minaret.  As the Cupola was being lifted the crowd applauded and I thanked Almighty Allah that He had made this possible through His grace and mercy. 

When the Cupola was in place, everyone climbed the stairs of the scaffolding to the top.  However I could not go up as my knee was extremely sore and I was scheduled for surgery on  August 29th.

Refreshments were then served to the guests and workers.  This was followed by a tour of the Mosque.  People were very impressed by the beautiful architectural details of the Mosque. 

The ceremony ended by 12.00 noon and I left for the airport to catch the flight to the USA and reached Columbus the same night.

As I left the mosque and saw both Minarets which had been fallen down since the end of the Second World War in 1945 now standing straight and tall, at their full original height, after fifty six years, my heart was filled with joy and thankfulness to Almighty Allah.

May Almighty Allah also make this Mosque a source from which  the light of Islam would illumine Europe. Ameen!