![MARAWA members gather after prayers at the future site of Wagga's first mosque. Picture by Ash Smith MARAWA members gather after prayers at the future site of Wagga's first mosque. Picture by Ash Smith](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/200569959/f784f081-1410-43a6-aa12-64d2c3dae049.jpg/r0_341_6662_4101_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Wagga's Islamic community are planning their next move, after council passed their development application to build the city's first mosque.
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The decision to allow the construction was passed unanimously by council, after the receipt of 11 objections to the new place of worship triggered the need for a council vote.
Muslim Association Riverina Wagga Australia (MARWA) began fundraising to build a mosque in 2013.
Efforts to build a mosque in Wagga go back at least a decade, when MARWA started raising funds for the purchase of land, and planning for the eventual construction.
During this process, Wagga's Muslims have used a variety of locations around town for prayer and worship, often resulting in confusion or overcrowding.
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MARWA vice-chair Dr Sajid Latif said the need to accelerate the plans became evident in 2016 - 2017.
"The numbers just started getting bigger and bigger," he said.
"There was a huge group of South-East students, and Jordanian students ... so we felt the size we had was not big enough at the Islamic centre we have at Charles Sturt campus.
"People are actually setting up their mats outside for Friday prayers."
Islam has a longer history in Australia than many people know. Islamic Macassan traders visited the Northern Territory in the 16th century to trade with the Warramiri people, and other Indigenous groups.
In the 1860s, Central Asian caravans were encouraged to emigrate to Australia, bringing camels, and desert survival experience with them. Despite coming from many predominantly Islamic countries, they were referred to as "Afghans".
Their arrival heralded a great push into the centre of Australia, and the founding of the country's first mosque in 1861 at Marree in South Australia.
More than 160 years later, Wagga's first mosque still faces challenges. Dr Latif said challenges finding contractors, and the rising cost of building will mean the project may take well over a year.
"We're doing the paperwork at the moment to put a tender out," he said.
"We hope by mid-next year - by fasting month - if we can open, because that's when everyone can really feel the spirit.
"Best hope is probably end of next year."
MARWA secretary Mahfuz Khan said the process to get to this point had been "dramatic".
"When I came here and started looking at this project, I thought there would be some opposition," he said.
"I wasn't sure what the council were going to say ... but later, I felt they already knew they were going to approve it.
"At the end of the day, people have different views - including Muslims ... at the end of the day, the purpose is to come and get to know each other."
MARWA want members of the community to know that the mosque is not just a place for prayers, but a place for the community to gather, and learn from each other. The famous hospitality and food of many of the cultures that make up the local Islamic group is on offer to the whole community - not just congregants.
"Every community has a different flavour. Just like this, every language culture has a beauty in it," he said.
"It's an opportunity for people who don't know the Muslim community to come out and enjoy that beauty.
"How can you be your best staying in your own room? Go and test it. Test your ideas out there, and see what people think. That's how you learn."
MARWA members have to this point been learning from the more senior, and educated members of their community, but they hope the construction of the mosque will help them attract a trained Imam to lead their growing congregation.
"We would like someone who's properly trained, and properly qualified," Dr Latif said.
"But because the community is so diverse, we'd like to bring and Imam who can accommodate the needs and beliefs of all the different schools of thought in our religion.
"I think that's the only way forward. Dividing doesn't really help - in religion, or society."
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