On Paying Fifty Cents for a Plot of Land, an Architect and a Lawyer

He asked "can we do some service for the local people? Like web classes or something?"... and I went " What??? Why the hhh….heavens would we have to do that for them? We don't owe them anything. We bought that piece of land, we are paying for the mosque ourselves. We don’t owe them anything for us to have to 'make up' for building a mosque there".

A man asked the question to the solicitor who stood in front of the prayer crowd tonight  and said, in his Australian accent, thick as hookah smoke, that he was happy with the way things are going with the plans for the new mosque in Elermore Vale, Newcastle.

An artist impression of the upcoming mosque in Elermore Vale..uuu..whose car is that?

As the people in Newcastle may have heard or got to know, the muslim community of Newcastle is raising funds to build a new mosque to accommodate the increasing number of muslims residing here. The new mosque was proposed to be built in a suburb called Elermore Vale. The plot of land was bought several months ago and now, the last steps before a new shiny mosque is getting approval from the city council, and getting enough funds to reach a total target of AUD1.4million.

Since 2 years ago, the mosque committee has tried every single day to raise funds for the mosque. The evidence is clear, every Friday, there will be a man standing in front of the doors of the Masonic Hall that has been rented for several years now for the Friday prayers asking for donations "Sedeqah for the masjid *ching ching ching (sound of coins rattling)*. Sedeqah for the masjid *ching ching ching*. The Prophet told us that whosoever builds a mosque, Allah will build a house for him in Jannah (Paradise)!!!".

That's what he did, that man, every Friday. And the sound of his donation box will always stick in my memory, the sound of a thin layer of coins rattling in a big, hopeful box.

I'm not writing this so people would feel guilty about not giving a lot for to the mosque even when we use the mosque every day, every Friday, every Iftar,  every  Community Iftar, or every Eid, for free since the last 10 years, or since only recently.

I'm writing to share a feeling that I noticed while I said those words up there to a friend sitting beside me in the prayer hall.

"WE bought that piece of land, WE are paying for the mosque OURSELVES. WE don’t owe them anything for US to have to 'make up' for building a mosque there".

I don’t claim to have given much for the new mosque, but I feel… very connected to it. I feel that my occasional 50cents or 5 dollars were used when the committee bought the piece of land, or paid the architect or the solicitor. I feel that I have contributed to this mosque and I feel that I have a right to call the mosque mine…or ours. And for that, I love the new mosque, even when there's no rock solid guarantee that its going to be built. I love it and I want it, because I paid for it. I deserve to have it. Nuff said...

For those reading this and know of the situation, I implore you to  feel the same as I am. You should feel that YOU ARE contributing to this mosque, you should feel that you have ownership over the mosque, you should feel that the mosque is yours, or ours. Because it is.

You have given what is needed for this new mosque. It may have been AUD5, or AUD10, or AUD100, or your effort to telling people about this cause. You are in this as much as I am, or that man who asked for donations every Friday, or the Imam of the mosque. This masjid is going to be yours! In 10 years time when you decide to come around to visit Newcastle and bring your kids for a drive around , you should feel proud showing them that mosque because you helped to build that mosque. The mosque is there, because you took part in funding it.

 And it will be a place where thousands of people do good deeds, everyday. It will be a place where people will find faith, or regain fading faith, or learn about the Quran and Islam, or meet each other and spread goodness and truth. And it will be possible because of you.

So thank you all Novocastrians, for your being here will leave a mark of peace, good and faith for a very, very long time to come.

Yay we're getting a new mosque!

Azfar    

"Whosoever shares in building a masjid for Allah, even if it is as small as a bird’s nest, Allah (S.W.T.) will build for him a house in Paradise."  (Prophet Muhammad pbuh)