– “It was a great honour to welcome the Governing Mayor of Oslo, Eirik Lae Solberg (H), to Friday prayers at ICC Bjørndal in our temporary premises. His visit marked an occasion that will go down in our history,” writes the mosque ICC Norway on Facebook, following the weekend gathering with the Conservative Party’s leader of the city government in Oslo.
Oslo sells plot for new mosque in Bjørndal
Islamic Cultural Centre Norway (ICC) has a large mosque at Grønland in central Oslo, and they have branches at Alna and at Bjørndal in the capital. The latter is part of the borough of Søndre Nordstrand, and the ICC mosque has for 11 years attempted to build a large mosque there as well. Now it finally appears set to become reality, and it was on this occasion that the Governing Mayor from the Conservative Party visited the temporary mosque in Bjørndal, and participated in Friday prayers. At least according to the mosque’s head office.
“After 11 years of patient and purposeful work, Oslo City Council has finally approved the sale of the plot where we today operate from barracks. This is a decisive step towards the realisation of permanent and dignified premises for our mosque at Bjørndal,” the mosque writes in a post on Facebook. They further describe highlights from the visit:
The Governing Mayor participated during Friday prayers
Congratulations: The Governing Mayor delivered an inspiring speech during the Friday gathering, in which he congratulated the mosque on the decision and acknowledged the important work being carried out locally.
Recognition: ICC greatly appreciates that it is under Solberg’s leadership that this matter finally fell into place, and that the plot can now become the mosque’s permanent home.
Community: The visit was an excellent opportunity for the Governing Mayor to greet the members and witness the strong engagement that exists within the local community. “This demonstrates what we can achieve through perseverance, cooperation and a strong community spirit. We are deeply grateful to all volunteers, members and supporters who have persevered for more than a decade.” We now look ahead with renewed hope and optimism. Thank you very much for the support!
Mosque visit on Liberation Day
Lae Solberg himself has not posted any recollections from the Friday prayers at the ICC mosque. They were, after all, held on Liberation Day, 8 May, and the Conservative city councillor has instead posted some lofty words inspired by the liberation in 1945.
Oslo still bears traces of the occupation. Not only in buildings and memorials, but in the stories about people who chose to take responsibility when the cost was greatest. Therefore 8 May is also a reminder to those of us who live in freedom: Democracy, the rule of law and freedom of expression are not self-evident. They must be defended. Not only in ceremonial speeches, but in action – every single day, Lae Solberg wrote, among other things, in the post on Facebook. Accompanied by an old photograph of joyful Norwegians and waving Norwegian flags, from a time when not even the smallest mosque had been envisaged in Oslo or Norway.
Mosque leader to deliver Constitution Day speech
Incidentally, board member Zamran Ahmad Butt from the ICC mosque is to deliver this year’s 17 May speech for Christian Magnus Falsen in Oslo in a few days. That is to say, for the man regarded as the father of the Constitution.
Muslim from Labour to advise Conservative city government
Incidentally, on 1 April Eirik Lae Solberg announced that he had acquired a Muslim adviser, from the Labour Party.
“Looking forward to having you on the team, Rashid! We need cross-party solutions,” wrote Lae Solberg, while Rashid Nawaz was more expansive:
It is not entirely public yet, but I have actually been asked to contribute as an adviser to Eirik Solberg’s city government leadership.
It may perhaps sound somewhat strange considering my background in Labour, but the idea is apparently to bring in a broader perspective on some of the more demanding matters going forward. There is much talk about “cross-party competence” and the need to reduce the level of conflict in certain urban development processes.
For the moment, this concerns an informal role/project basis, particularly linked to the urban environment and social equalisation.
I was quite uncertain at first, but it seems that this is something they genuinely wish to test further going forward, Nawaz wrote in a post on Facebook which Lae Solberg shared the same day, with the message that he was looking forward to it.
The Conservative city government’s new adviser is not occupied solely with Conservative matters. Flying the flag for the Iranian regime is perhaps especially remarkable for an adviser to the Conservative Party? Photo: Rashid Nawaz on Facebook, spring 2026.
Rashid Nawaz is leader of the borough committee in the borough of Stovner in Oslo, and a politician for the Labour Party. In 2025 he was disappointed with the leadership of the Labour Party, and demanded that the government withdraw investments in Israeli companies. So much so that he hoped not to become a stay-at-home voter at the election, wrote Grorud Avis. In 2024 he went on sick leave because the pressure became so great when many people in Groruddalen opposed pride flagging, which became a national media story, while in 2021 he became known in the media after, like Conservative politician Aamir Sheikh, travelling on a family visit to Pakistan in contravention of the government’s travel advice during the coronavirus lockdown.
At the election in 2023, Rashid Nawaz feared that Oslo would end up with a blue city government. That is indeed what happened, but now it appears that the blue and the red politician have joined forces. Even if it was possibly intended as an April Fool’s joke, it is perhaps not inconceivable that they may attend future Friday prayers together?
Lystenning for ramadan i Oslo med byrådslederen fra Høyre i spissen