Story of Dover Masjid

As-Salāmu Alaykum Wa-Rahmatullāhi Wa-Barakātuh

Dover Cultural Centre is a registered charity that was set up in 2012 to establish the FIRST Masjid in Dover. We are a small community where Muslims make up less than 0.6% of the population in Dover.

The registered charity was formed in the hope of allowing the town’s Muslim community to have a Masjid at their doorstep and a place to develop and strengthen their Emaan, as well as to ensure generations of Muslims are brought up in the shade of Allah’s سبحانه و تعالى house.

Alhamdulillah! With Allah’s سبحانه و تعالى blessings and through everyone’s duas, support, and kind donations over the years, we purchased the ideal property for the Masjid during Ramadan 2022 and raised the funds to construct the Masjid in Ramadan 2023.

As you can see from the photos below, the works at the Masjid are largely finished and we have now opened up for daily prayers alhamdulillah. The Masjid hosts weekly sisters’ circles and children’s play days. Most importantly, we have built a relationship with the local authorities in order to provide dawah to the majority non-Muslim population and opened the doors of Allah’s سبحانه و تعالى house to anyone and everyone that wants to learn more about Islam.

Now that the Masjid has been constructed, one of our remaining key objectives is to pay off the Qarz-e-Hasana. Qarz-e-Hasana is a benevolent loan provided in the name of Allah سبحانه و تعالى. It is mentioned in Surah Al-Hadid (57:11):

مَّن ذَا ٱلَّذِى يُقْرِضُ ٱللَّهَ قَرْضًا حَسَنًۭا فَيُضَـٰعِفَهُۥ لَهُۥ وَلَهُۥٓ أَجْرٌۭ كَرِيمٌۭ

“Who is it that will lend to Allah a good loan which Allah will multiply many times over for them, and they will have an honourable reward?”

The Qarz-e-Hasana has been provided by very generous members of the ummah and allowed us to get to where we are. As is the case with all debt in Islam, it must be repaid without interest, and what better debt to have the opportunity to repay than the one lent to the Most Noble, Most High?

The Qarz currently stands at £45,000. Repayment of the Qarz would also allow us to focus funds elsewhere to ensure the constant running of the Masjid, including the following:

• Employing a full-time imam
• Establish a maktab (school) for children to study Islam
• Host halaqas (religious gatherings to study Islam), tajweed classes, etc.
• Have huffaz lead prayers
• Run initiatives and programmes to give dawah
• Community outreach programmes

Building a Masjid is one of the most noble and beautiful forms of charity and a vital component of a Muslim community. The first thing the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ did after migrating to Madinah was build a Masjid.

May Allah سبحانه و تعالى grant our community with a Masjid in which we can worship Him and be close to Him and may this property be that Masjid. May this property serve the ummah with a place to pray, worship the Creator, and strengthen their Emaan. May this Masjid continue to benefit others and may others, including generations yet to come, benefit from it Insha’Allah. May Allah سبحانه و تعالى make this Masjid a success and protect it until the Day of Judgement. May Allah سبحانه و تعالى accept this Masjid, its visitors, its donors, and everyone connected to it. May Allah سبحانه و تعالى make this Masjid a means of Sadaqah Jariyah for every person who assisted in this cause. Ameen.

Jazakallah Khair.