REGINA – The Ahmadiyya community, a sect of Islam, has been renting a community hall in Regina, but members have long had dreams having their own mosque, which will be Regina’s first.
“This mosque was in planning for the last 25 years, but the community at that time was small and could not afford to build one,” said Dr. Habib Rehman, the Regina Ahmadiyya Community president. “This means our community will have a place to worship.”
Now, the community has grown and it’s been able to fundraise $300,000 of the over $1 million needed for construction, with promises of donations for the rest.
“Now we have a mosque. It will be bigger and people will also be able to know about our culture, our community,” said Washiim Hassen Ally, who moved to Regina from Mauritius eight months ago.
The growth of the Muslim population in Saskatchewan has never been more noticeable than during Ramadan this summer.
“They had three services that day. And there is another event happening shortly and I hear another 7,000 people will be showing up for that,” said Regina mayor, Michael Fougere.
“Muslims in our province are a growing community and we’re very fortunate to be in a position where not only are we celebrating growth in terms of population, but growth in diversity in terms of our multiculturalism,” said Mark Docherty, Parks, Culture and Sport minister.
The mosque is expected to be completed by 2016.
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