Last Saturday the purpose- built mosque Masjid Ibrahim was officially opened by WA Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural interests Mike Nahan.
The opening was attended by City of Gosnells mayor Dave Griffiths, Gosnells MLA Chris Tallentire, spokeswoman for citizenship and multicultural interests Margaret Quirk, Southern River MLA Peter Abetz, Islamic scholar Sheikh Abdul Hafeez Malik Al-Makki, guests from Saudi Arabia and community members.
Spokesman for the Islamic Association of Southern Districts Imam Burhaan Mehtar said for the past five years the Muslim community had been working with the City of Gosnells to establish a mosque in the area and the opening was ‘a very happy occasion’.
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READ NOW‘The aim of the centre is to build bridges with the wider community,’ he said.
‘As Australian Muslims we feel it is important to give back to society and to show the peaceful, loving, harmonious side of Islam.’
Materials from the mosque, which took a year and half to build, were sourced from all over the world.
The dome was shipped in eight separate pieces from Malaysia and includes Arabesque (Islamic art).
The carpets in the prayer room are based on an Ottoman-style design, the mosaic tiles in the mehrabb (design in a mosque showing the direction of Mecca) are from South Africa, while jarrah from a former house at the site has been made into a pulpit.