The First Mosque in the Arctic

Canadian Muslims have erected the Arctic‘s first minaret, atop a little yellow mosque which serves as spiritual home to the area’s Islamic community. The new mosque has a main hall with red carpets, a kitchen and a library, said mosque committee member Amer Suliman.

The prefabricated mosque arrived in Inuvik last month to serve a growing Muslim population in Canada‘s far north, after traveling 4,000 kilometers (2,485 miles) over land and water. The minaret — built locally and installed this week four levels and stands 30 feet (10 meters) off the ground.

The number of Muslims in Inuvik, a town of 4,000 inhabitants in Canada’s Northwest Territories, has grown steadily in recent years to about 80 and they no longer fit in an old three-by-seven-meter (10-by-23-foot) caravan used until now for prayers.

Gazete5, 11 October 2010



Musalmantimes, 28 October 2010