“With the help of local support Alhamdulillah (praise be to Allah) in three years duration, the purchase of land from the market was completed,” said Abdul Gaffar Khan, President of IFAM ACT.

 In Feb 2016 a Development Application (DA) was launched with the local council to build the mosque under IFAM’s Trust for mosques ‘Saarban Islamic Trust’ which already successfully manages two mosques in Campbelltown and Bankstown.

”This is a great gift from Allah (swt) to the Muslim community of Queanbeyan and Canberra in the month of Ramadan,” said Siraj Mohammed, the Queanbeyan Mosque Project Lead.

The Administrator and Mayor of Queanbeyan, Mr. Tim Overall approved the DA at council’s meeting held on Wednesday June 8. The DA met all the technical requirements for the place of public worship. The Mosque will be built on a 1486 square meter block which will cater for growing Queanbeyan Muslim population of about 500. 

Steve Coster, Minister at Queanbeyan Uniting Church added his support.

“I very much welcome and celebrate the approval of a mosque here in this community. I look forward to discovering ways we can share together,” he said.

The mosque will cater for approximately 100 people with amenities such as purpose built prayer hall, library, car parking, ablution blocks and admin office. The council also approved six events per year at mosque for larger gatherings.

The Canberra-Queanbeyan wing of IFAM has been highly active in Queanbeyan for the last 9 years with a range of activities such as an Islamic Play group, Islamic Library, Islamic lectures, Charity Fund raising Dinners, Children School holiday programs, Congregation Prayers, and fortnightly Quranic circles. 

IFAM ran a successful fundraising campaign to buy the land for the Mosque mostly locally. However, there is a bigger expectation of financial help sought from Muslim communities from Sydney and Melbourne for the construction of the Mosque as local resources are very limited.

This significant milestone of DA approval was achieved after an enduring process and a series of meetings with the councilors, council technical teams, NSW Police and local residents. 

Mr. Khan expressed his gratitude to all who supported the fundraising and approval.

“IFAM wishes to thank all those parties involved for their positive outlook and reception. And in particular like to thank the general Queanbeyan community who have raised only a very genuine concerns and issues as part of the DA process. There has been overwhelming support for the Mosque especially from the non-Muslims in Queanbeyan on the news of DA approval,” he said.