Amy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/12128540.htm
Posted on Thu, Jul. 14, 2005
With mosque, dream is reality
Hundreds -- including Gov. Kathleen Sebelius -- celebrate the opening of the Muslim worship center.
The Wichita EagleWichita-area Muslims on Wednesday celebrated the grand opening of Kansas' largest mosque.
The event drew hundreds of visitors -- including Gov. Kathleen Sebelius -- to join the celebration and tour the facility.
The 10,050-square-foot mosque -- which has yet to be officially named -- is at 6655 E. 34th St. North and adjoins the Muslim Community Center, where Muslims had previously prayed.
The mosque includes a carpeted prayer area on the main floor, a 10-foot-high speaker's platform or pulpit, an area to wash the bodies of people who have died and an office for the imam, a prayer leader.
For Muslims, the opening of the mosque marked the end of nearly 10 years of concept planning and four years of fiscal planning. It was built at a cost of more than $800,000, debt-free.
"It's just like home," said Nabil Seyam, spokesman for the Islamic Society of Wichita. "The mosque, it is a place of worship, but it also is a place where it feels like home. There is no evil in it. It's a place of peace."
As part of the grand opening ceremony, there were readings from the Quran. Muslim leaders and Sebelius gave speeches to a standing-room only audience of several hundred inside the community center.
Sebelius told the group she was impressed with the facility not just as a faith center, but as a community center and education center. There is a school inside the building.
After the speeches and readings, visitors were allowed to tour the mosque. Visitors removed their shoes as they entered the carpeted prayer area. Women were given scarves to cover their hair.
After the tour, Sebelius said she hoped the visibility of the mosque would prompt non-Muslims to visit and learn more about the faith.
"I'm a big believer that the more we learn about one another, the more we learn how much we have in common," she said. "People tend to view each other with a little suspicion until they figure out these are parents and professionals and community leaders. I think this is great."
Assem Farhat, president of the board of trustees for the Islamic Society of Wichita, saw another positive in having such a large mosque in the city.
"It improves the attractability of the city to Muslims" from outside the city, he said. "They would be more likely to consider Wichita."
Following the tours, people gathered in the community center for refreshments.
At one table sat Sharfuddin Shah, the former president of the board of trustees for the Islamic Society. He moved to Dallas last year before the mosque was complete, so seeing the finished building was important and special.
"It's very nice," he said. "I was glad to hear it was finished and glad to see it finished."
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