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Winnipeg
Oct
2010
Oct
The world's third most northerly mosque has found its home in Inuvik at the end of its three-week journey from Winnipeg. The unassuming prefab structure arrived by barge from Hay River just before 5 p.m. on Sept. 22.
Facing an early snow, a crowd of about 40 Muslims greeted their long-awaited mosque at the Inuvik shipyard. There were prayers, group photos, hugs and applause.
"It was joyful," Abdalla Mohamed, who owns a business in the town in the Mackenzie Delta, said. "Some people were crying. But it was a feeling of achievement. We have something we were looking for all our lives."
Mr. Mohamed, 45, who has lived in Inuvik since 1991, is a senior member of a growing Muslim community. He said the group numbers about 100, up from five when he got there.
The 1,500-square-foot building is expected to be ready for worship by the end of October.
The Zubaidah Tallab Foundation, based in Manitoba, arranged for the mosque. Hussain Guisti, who runs the foundation, said he chose a prefab because it was cheaper than building from scratch in Inuvik.
The toughest moment was at Reindeer Creek on the Alberta-Northwest Territories border when a second truck had to be brought in to help maneuver the building across a narrow bridge.
The Inuvik mosque is now the most northerly mosque in North America, however there are two other mosques in Russia and Norway that are slightly farther north.
With files from Agencies.
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