Islamic Affairs Minister Dr Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed laid the foundation stone on 9 October for a new mosque in Vilimalé that will hold 1,000 worshippers. It replaces the old Masjidus Salaam, which stood on the site for 25 years.
The Fiya Foundation is building it at a cost of about MVR 30 million. The foundation is headed by Ibrahim Rasheed, managing director of Rasheed Carpentry and Construction. The two-storey building will have a prayer hall, two classrooms and an imam's room.
The minister said residents of Vilimalé have long asked for a new mosque there, and that all the dilapidated mosques in the Malé area should be rebuilt within two years. Sponsors have been secured and work has begun on all but one, in Henveiru, where a donor has come forward. The ministry says more than 70 Islamic development projects are under way nationwide.
