A DeKalb mosque is now officially fully functional and open to the public. That follows a soft opening about a month ago.
This project was a long time coming. That’s according to Saad Ali, president of the Northern Illinois University Muslim Student Association.
“Now, since we have our own place, we can do all the events,” Ali said. “We don’t have to worry about booking or renting someplace to do our prayers, events and whatnot. So now we have an official place we can have all our stuff over there.”
Ali says the last piece of the puzzle before the mosque on Normal Road could officially open was a fire department inspection.
“Because we were not allowed to have any food like a month ago,” Ali said. “Now they have approved it, so now it’s fully functional, so we can do all our events and stuff over there.”
Before the current mosque was built, a house that used to be on the same property served as a Muslim place of worship.
Mohammed Labadi, who is the president of the NIU Islamic Society, says the project took about four years to complete and about a million dollars in donations.