It is only a short metro ride from Milan's chic designer stores but the city's most controversial mosque may as well be a world away.
Surrounded by dull apartment blocks and grimy warehouses, the Viale Jenner mosque is a microcosm of the problems of Islam in Catholic Italy.
And, since Sept. 11, 2001, it has come under a microscope of suspicion.
To its opponents, the mosque, which takes its name from the traffic-choked street that hosts it, is a haven for Islamic militants and should be shut down.
But supporters say the overcrowded and under-funded mosque, illustrates how Italy is brushing off Islam as a temporary difficulty.
"We have no problem with Italian laws. We respect them. We do not demand the right to marry four wives or the right to have Fridays off work," says Abdel Hamid Shaari, the Libyan-born head of the Viale Jenner mosque and cultural institute.
"The problem is this monoculture of the Catholic church, which sees others as heretics, as non-people," said Shaari, who has lived in Italy for nearly 40 years.
After two decades of steady immigration, Italy is home to an estimated 1 million officially registered Muslims, making Islam the country's second, and fastest-growing, religion. Many other Muslims live and work illegally in Italy.
But Islam is the least represented of the monotheistic faiths in Rome's corridors of power. Only some 50,000 Muslims have the right to vote and there are no national politicians who are known to be Muslims.
Unlike Judaism, Buddhism and some Protestant denominations, Islam is not officially recognized by the Italian state.
This means most Muslim structures -- from schools to mosques -- miss out on tax benefits and state contributions reserved for recognized faiths.
In part, this is due to infighting between Islamic communities that have failed to reach agreement on a legal understanding with the state. Milan has several rival mosques.
But critics say it is also due to foot-dragging by the Italian government, whose coalition includes the Northern League -- a populist and anti-immigration party.
ON THE FRINGES OF SOCIETY
Muslim leaders say this existence on the fringes of Italian society does little to integrate newly arrived immigrants and only serves to help radical Muslims recruit militants.
Investigators say Italy, which backed the U.S.-led war in Iraq, is both a recruiting ground and a potential target.
Dozens of militants, many linked to al Qaeda and other radical movements, have been arrested in a string of raids in recent years. Mosques in smaller northern towns such as Cremona were shut down.
"If the state does not allow Muslims to live their religion in a dignified way, this favors clandestine movements," says Moroccan-born Khalid Chaouki, president of the Italian Muslim Youth organization.
Viale Jenner was first in the media spotlight in the early 1990s, during the Balkan war. Its fiery prayer leader, Anwar Shaban, was killed fighting alongside the mujahideen in Bosnia.
"After 2001, things got worse. We were linked to al Qaeda and we had our bank accounts frozen," said Shaari.
The United States has said the mosque is a key European logistics base for Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.
"We have never seen proof of these alleged ties bringing us together with al Qaeda," Shaari said.
But he is the first to admit that he simply cannot monitor all his flock. The mosque is already overwhelmed by a myriad of requests from recently arrived immigrants, hoping for everything from cash to lodging or home comforts.
MULTICULTURAL ITALY?
Experts say part of the problem is that although Islam is not new to Italy -- the Arabs held Sicily for 200 years -- mass immigration is recent and experience in managing it is thin.
"Italy has always been very homogenous from a cultural point of view. Other countries had strong Jewish or Protestant cultures, Italy did not," says Paolo Branca, author of several books on Islam and a professor at Milan's Catholic University.
"Italy is not a racist country, and it is not a country carrying the burden of a colonial history. These should be points to our advantage, but they are not," he said.
Multicultural streets or quarters and kindergarten teachers in headscarves still make the news in Italy.
"Islam does not have to be exotic, linked to immigration or terrorism," says Yahya Sergio Pallavicini, son of a converted Muslim and vice president of the Italian Islamic Community in Milan.
"Italy must open itself to understand what it is to be Italian -- that you can be a Muslim Italian, a Jewish Italian."
Pallavicini has called for Italian-born imams to be a link between Italy and Islamic countries.
But most say that short of government help, Italy's Muslims will have to wait before they can enjoy full recognition.
"This is a job that requires patience," said Shaari, lighting another cigarette. "Perhaps our children, or our children's children, will succeed."