Fundraising Continues For Bentonville Mosque

By Jeff Mores

Posted: November 18, 2009 at 4:53 a.m.

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BENTONVILLE — Mohammed Khan and a growing congregation — currently 72 strong — plan to open the first permanent Islamic mosque in Bentonville. It’s taking longer than originally expected, but they’re well on their way.

On Tuesday, the Bentonville Planning Commission extended a conditional-use permit for Khan, allowing the congregation, which calls itself Bentonville Islamic Center, to continue worshipping at a leased property at 104 S.E. Sixth St. through November 2012. Khan believes the congregation will be able to move into a newly constructed facility along Arkansas 72, west of Walton Boulevard, in far shorter time period than that.

We need $199,000 to build the permanent facility we want and we’ve already raised $150,000 of that,” Khan said. “We just need a little more time. Donations have been slower this year with the economy, but the Islamic population here and the need for something like this in Bentonville continues to grow.”

According to Khan, his religion does not allow for the use of loans. So every penny that goes into the new facility is being raised by the congregation prior to construction. And in the meantime, the population continues to grow, along with those of Islamic faith.

“I moved here five years ago and the only place for me to really go is Fayetteville,” Khan said. “There’s a mosque on the University of Arkansas campus. Since 2004, we’ve had our own congregation and it’s grown to around 72 people. Within five years, we see the potential for that number to grow to a few hundred.”

According to Khan, the congregation plans to build a worship facility with a capacity for 300. In the meantime, the fundraising continues.

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