It will be a mosque within a church.
An opening ceremony will be held next week for the Sayyidah Aysha Islamic Center, which will operate inside Okotoks United Church.
The Sayyidah Khadijah Center and Islamic Supreme Council of Canada have joined forces to create the mosque, which will be celebrated at the opening ceremony on Friday, May 2 at 1:30 p.m.
Dr. Atthar Mahmood, vice president of the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada, said it will be the first Islamic centre in Okotoks and, most importantly, will function from within the United Church.
The Muslim community has been conducting Friday prayers at the Okotoks church since late 2022.
“There is definitely a huge need for it here in Okotoks,” Mahmood said in early 2023. “People had to go to Calgary and that’s just not convenient.”
Mahmood said Muslims pray five times daily, which can typically be done at home, but on Fridays it must be done in congregation, which had forced members of the faith to leave town.
He said Muslims are grateful to the church for providing space for Friday prayers, and are excited by the new arrangement that will give them 24-hour access to the mosque.
He said the permanent space will allow them to start classes for children and on the Quran, the holy book of Islam.
Mahmood said the need for a mosque was due to a growing local Muslim community.
“We just announced it last week and I have already heard from three or four people that are moving to Okotoks, so this is good news for them,” he said. “People are showing a lot of interest in moving to Okotoks.”
Mahmood has helped establish congregations in other Calgary suburbs, including Airdrie and Chestermere.
