Afghan Mosque Alice Springs

About

The mosque, originally built by Afghan immigrants in Australia in late 1800s, closed during World War II and rebuilt on 101 Lyndavale Drive in 1993.

Story

"The Afghans in Alice Springs, who lived mostly between the present Town Council Complex and the Memorial Club, built a mosque on the present Council lawns (late 1800's). These included Peer Mahomed, Sallay Mahomet (who lived in present Mahomed St), Mungaloon, Sideek, Saudi, Abdul Majeed, Saidel, Abdul Khalick (Khalick St), Charlie Sadadeen (Sadadeen Rd), Syed Mulladad and family and Syed Satour and family.

Regretfully, during World War 2, the mosque and dwellings were bulldozed away to make room for military needs.

In 1988 about 50 Islamic adults and children lived in the town. The President of the Alice Springs Islamic Society, Mr Abdul Khan, saw the intense need to build an Islamic Centre and said he strove almost single-handedly to achieve this aim, apart from the great moral support he received from Ali John Satour.
Mr Khan, for the society , received land in Lyndavale Dr from the NT Government. Dedicatedly, on his own initiative, he drove interstate to door-knock Islamic people in Brisbane, Adelaide and Sydney to raise funds to build the Centre.

After this exhausting, though successful venture, Mr Khan oversaw the construction of the building designed for Islamic religious and community activities.

On 3 October 1993 more than 160 people attended the opening of the Afghan Mosque, including the President of the Australian Federation of the Islamic Councils and Federal, Territory and local government officials and Church ministers.

In February 1996, there were 36 Islamic families in Alice Springs, many of whom were descendants of pioneers. Thirty families originally came from Afghanistan, three from Pakistan and the other three from Lebanon, Fiji and Singapore."

Reference: Josie Petrick (2005), The History of the Alice Springs through Landmarks & Street Names, 4th edition, p. 126