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Masjid An-Nur Hosts Fundraiser for Masjid Expansion

Community News - Community News

Written by Anhar Karim Muslim Link Staff Writer

Thursday, 09 August 2012 08:20

On Saturday August 4th, 2012, Masjid An-Nur, a humble mosque serving the Greater Baltimore area, hosted a successful fundraiser in their own building. Raising $200,000, just $150,000 short of their $350,000 thousand goal, the event lasted from iftar until midnight with over 400 people attending. All raised money will go towards the running costs of the mosque and the design and engineering plans for making the new masjid building.

Masjid An-Nur started out in 1993 with just seven people praying within a church. But the masjid planned big for the future as slowly more Muslims from the Bel Air and Havre de Grace area began joining the congregations.

Then in 2008, with the help of community donations and support from other Muslim communities such as Masjid Al-Fallah, Masjid Al-Haq, the Islamic Society of Annapolis, and the Islamic Society of Baltimore, An-Nur acquired 4 acres of land near the intersection of Route 40 and Route 43 to build a new masjid facility.

Later in 2010 An-Nur bought a car dealership beside their new property and acquired 37,000 more square feet for the masjid. Now with plenty of land in hand and plenty of Muslims eager to see a new masjid, all that was left was planning and fundraising.

The fundraiser began with iftar and dinner was served shortly after. The meal consisted of delicious servings of Indian and Pakistani food, in fact Mohamed Mughal, a community leader at An-Nur, noted that, “the ‘food’ portion was well attended” with 75% of the people leaving after their meal.

The fundraising began at 9:30pm with an introduction by Dr. Yaseen Tohme, treasurer of An-Nur, and then continued to the keynote speaker Moutaseen Atiya from the Al-Madina Institute. The audience enjoyed listening to the keynote speaker who explained how the Prophet (SAW) and the sahaba were very giving during this special month of Ramadan. The event cost about $8000 to put on and was completely funded by Masjid An-Nur.

Mughal notes that the progress being made is “slower than expected” due to the status of the economy. But with successful fundraisers like this, which the masjid hosts once every Ramadan, the Masjid An-Nur community will soon be able to see their new and improved masjid facility.