The Islamic Society of Virginia held a ribbon cutting ceremony Saturday for Charlottesville’s first purpose-built mosque.
Located on Pine Street, the facility offers more space for local Muslims to come for five daily prayers. At this point, however, only one of the mosque’s three stories is complete. The Quran forbids borrowing money at interest, and this has made it difficult for the Islamic Society of Central Virginia to fundraise for the project.
According to the project’s vision and objectives, the Charlottesville Masjid and Islamic Community Center will include an Islamic Library for Muslim and non-Muslim commnity members to spread information about Islam, a large activity room for community gatherings, and six classrooms for teaching Arabic, the Quran and Islamic Studies.
The site will also feature guest speakers "with the aim of spreading the word of God and correcting the deformed image of Islam and Muslims in the U.S. and West."
More information on the project can be found here.