The Zakat Foundation of America

Aug 12, 2010

It is through Zakat Foundation's Sadaqa Jariyah program, which encourages donors to contribute to the creation of services that bring continuous benefit to needy communities, that Zakat Foundation was able to assist needy with the opening of a mosque in Kembojai Village in the western region of Brikana, Gambia. Gambia is the smallest country in Africa with a population of just under two million people, ninety-percent of whom are Muslim.

On July 23rd and 24th, 2010 members of the Kembojai community, women, men, and children came out to celebrate the opening of the mosque. The villagers were very thankful to the Zakat Foundation donors whose generosity allowed for building the mosque in their village.

Before Zakat Foundation's construction of the new mosque, officially known as Masjid Ar-Rahman, the people of the village were performing their prayers in a mud brick structure that easily crumbled during the rainy season , leaving the community without a regular place of worship. For Friday prayers, the people of Kembojai would have to travel at least two miles to reach the closest mosque.

Alhamdulilah, after receiving a donation of land from one of the members of the community Zakat Foundation went about the construction of a mosque made of solid materials and large enough to accommodate the believers in the community.

Insha'Allah Masjid Ar-Rahman will serve both as a mosque and a community center. Fourteen year old Abdul said that he building of the mosque in his village is important because he loves to encourage his friends to pray and read Quran with him. The presence of the mosque makes these activities much easier.

Fatu Chan, a widow with four children who lives in the village said that going to the mosque in the neighboring village was very difficult and she is so grateful for the new mosque that she will continue to pray for the Zakat Foundation donors who built it for as long as she is alive.