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Young, NSW is building a massive new mosque to replace their 30-year-old one
Did anyone else know about this? The Muslim community in Young, a small town in regional NSW, has been building a brand new mosque to replace the one they have had since 1994. The new building will be nearly five times bigger than the original, with capacity for over 1,000 people. That would make it the biggest mosque outside any Australian capital city.
Young is a country town and the original Omar Ibn Khattab Mosque was built on the site of an old drive-in theatre. Now they are replacing it with something that matches the size of their community, because today around one in ten locals in Young is Muslim. Arabic is the second most spoken language in the town after English.
I grew up thinking every Muslim in Australia lived within a thirty-minute drive of Lakemba. The reality is that there are Muslim families in small towns all over this country. Farmers, teachers, small business owners. And the community in Young has grown so much that their original mosque cannot hold everyone anymore.
May Allah bless the community in Young and bring barakah to their new masjid.
Does anyone know if the new mosque has opened yet? And do you know of any other regional towns in Australia where the Muslim community is growing like this?
0 Comments
Sana Farooq
I had no idea about this! My uncle lives in Orange which is not far from Young. He has been praying at home for years because the nearest mosque is so far away. This gives me hope that more regional towns will follow. JazakAllah for sharing.
Kamal Hasan
This is encouraging news. As someone involved in education, I know there are Muslim families scattered across regional Australia who feel isolated from the wider community. A mosque, even a small one, becomes a gathering point, a school, a place of belonging. May Allah reward the community in Young for their efforts.