11 August 2007

Dubai: Two mosques are under construction to accommodate Muslim worshippers in Dubai Investment Park's (DIP) residential developments, including the Green Community, a DIP official said.

"One of the mosques, built for residents of the Green Community, will be ready for use by the end of the year or the beginning of the next," said Saeed Bugaraah, Chief Operating Officer at DIP.

The mosque will be located outside the second phase of the Green Community, which is currently under construction, and will have a capacity of approximately 1,500 worshippers, he added.

Frustrated residents

Gulf News reported in November last year about frustrated Muslim residents of the community who were being forced to squeeze into temporary mosques built for labourers, or had to travel long distances to pray in a mosque.

Muslim men are traditionally required to perform Friday midday prayers in congregation. Bugaraah told Gulf News that DIP had recently set up four temporary mosques in its residential developments, mainly for labourers, that had a capacity of "500 to 600 worshippers each."

One resident of the compound, S.S, said that although he appreciates the setting up of a mosque in the community, he hopes that the current situation is only temporary.

Another resident who did not want to be named told Gulf News he had to go to the mosque "forty five minutes to one hour" prior to the call to prayer, the azan, to get a place inside the mosque.

Improvement

"The mosque is placed next to an unpaved road so we have to walk in the sand to get to the mosque and if we're not early we have to pray outside under the sun," he said. "It's definitely an improvement from the previous situation though."

A female resident told Gulf News that women's needs for worshipping space were being ignored.

"My husband and son can go to the small temporary mosque but that doesn't have a designated area for women. It would be great if the permanent mosque has a women's area too. Ramadan is coming and women are likely to want to offer Taraweeh nightly prayers there."

Bugaraah said that the mosque currently under construction would also have a designated area for female worshippers.

By Abbas Al Lawati

Gulf News 2007. All rights reserved.