Muslims call for more mosques to be built in Ajman

As the emirate’s population continues to grow, mosques are struggling to cope with the number of worshipers. Space to pray can be at a premium, particularly on Fridays when people are forced outside on the streets and even roads.

Worshippers leave afternoon prayers at Al Suwaidi mosque in Ajman city. Many say the mosques are too crowded. Antonie Robertson / The National

AJMAN // Answering the call to prayer five times a day is a must for devout Muslims, but finding space to worship in the rapidly growing neighbourhoods of Ajman can be difficult.

As the emirate’s population continues to grow, mosques are struggling to cope with the number of worshippers.

Space to pray can be at a premium, particularly on Fridays when people are forced to pray and listen to the sermon on the streets.

Now residents have asked the authorities to build more, bigger mosques, especially in densely populated areas.

Mirza Khurshid, a retired wireless engineer, attends the Abu Huraira mosque close to his home in Al Khalidiya and says people living in the busy neighbourhood struggle to fit inside the small building.

“We face a problem in this mosque,” said Mr Khurshid, 65. “People have to pray outside on the road and under the sun.

“When this mosque was built there were not all these existing towers around it so it was enough, but now it has become very small for all the residents who come to pray.”

The Pakistani said that during religious holidays many residents chose to avoid their local mosque and travel further afield for prayers.

“In Eid, people try to go to bigger mosques but it is at Friday prayers where the problem lies,” Mr Khurshid said. “I ask the authorities to make mosques bigger, especially in this area.”

Syrian Firas Kiftaro, 24, a teaching assistant at the American University of Sharjah, attends the Al Ameri mosque, but said he was often forced to pray outside.

“Due to the small space of the mosque I am often forced to pray in the yard under the sun,” Mr Kiftaro said.

“The yard is full of sand and grit and is not modified by marble or tiles to be appropriate for worshippers.”

The General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowment (Awqaf) opened 12 mosques in Ajman last year, including the Sultan Al Suwaidi mosque that can accommodate 700 worshippers.

But Ali Abdoun said so many people have moved to the emirate that even this new mosque struggles with the numbers.

“I live far away from this mosque but it is the closest one to my place and it is small for the number of inhabitants here,” said the 35-year-old from Kenya.

English teacher Zidane Ali, 58, said: “The number of residents increased about 10 times from 10 years until now, so this mosque became not big enough for all of us, which means the row of worshippers reaches to the street.

“The areas that have residential villas have fewer people than the ones with buildings and towers, so their mosques do not suffer from the crowding.”

Noor Hussain, the imam at the Sultan Al Suwaidi mosque, said that in the past the emirate had more than enough houses of worship but as the population has swelled to more than 360,000, they are being stretched to the limit.

“During the past six years the number of occupants increased significantly,” said Mr Hussain, 43, a Bangladeshi who has lived in Ajman for more than two decades.

“Awqaf is now building a bigger mosque beside this one and it will be completed after one and a half to two years.

“It is also building more and bigger mosques with ladies’ prayer rooms and a room for the imam, unlike the old mosques that are small spaces and do not have prayer rooms for ladies or a room for the imam.”

Obaid Al Zaabi, Awqaf’s director in Ajman, said three new mosques big enough to hold a total of 5,000 people were under construction.

“We are building a new mosque beside Al Suwaidi that can accommodate 1,500 worshippers,” Mr Al Zaabi said.

“The old mosque will still exist until the new one is finished, and then we will demolish it.

“[For] Abu Huraira mosque, the space next to it is not large enough to build a bigger mosque but we will build a large one close to it that can accommodate about 1,500 worshippers.”

The director said that work on a mosque for 2,000 worshippers beside Al Ameri mosque was also under way.

“During the next six months the construction of the new one will be finished. It will be 400 metres from Al Ameri.”