Muslims praise Allah as city mosque gets go-ahead

CORK’s Muslim community offered praise to Allah last night after city councillors rezoned land for its first permanent mosque.

The committee of the Cork Muslim Society said they are delighted after they secured the two-thirds majority of council votes needed to rezone a site in an industrial estate on the city’s Tramore Road.

The rezoning will allow the society to build a permanent Islamic centre for the Muslim community in the region.

“All praises are due to Allah,” the society said on its website immediately after the vote.

The society once used a house in a suburb in Glasheen for weekly worship.

However, following complaints from locals about severe traffic congestion around Friday worship times, the community left the property for a rented warehouse.

The Muslim community has seen steady growth in recent years and the region’s multinational Islamic community now numbers more than 3,000.

Muslim leaders said the current Masjid, or mosque, had become very limiting for weekly Islamic school and activities.

The new mosque will contain a prayer hall, a community centre, classrooms, meeting rooms, and a library containing books, tapes and videos to help the wider community to learn more about Islam.

The material will be available in both Arabic and English.