Central Avenue site will be home to mosque, community center for Muslim Society of RI

PAWTUCKET – For Khalil Adra and Amjad Kinjawi of the Muslim Society of Rhode Island, the construction of a mosque and community center on Central Avenue not only will offer more space for members of the local Muslim community, it will also serve as a vitally important resource to allow the society to care for its neighbors and also clear up any misunderstandings people may have about the faith.

“We want to have a wonderful relationship with everybody, city residents, the community, to go to a place where people can know more about the religion and meet more people to know what it’s about,” Kinjawi said on Monday.

“If we don’t step forward and do something, the behavior of a handful who do not represent the religion is hurting and harming our religion,” Kinjawi later said. “Our job is to be clear what the real message is. Knowledge is a good cure for misunderstandings.”

“Part of our religion is to care about our neighbors ... Part of our religion is to be good to our neighbors,” Adra added.

The work toward construction at the Central Avenue property dates back to the establishment of the Masjid Al-Rahman in 1999. As the Muslim community in Pawtucket grew, so too did the need to establish a place for people to gather and pray together. In 2005, as they encountered space problems at their original location on Newport Avenue, in addition to an expiring lease, the Muslim Society of Rhode Island’s Masjid Al-Rahman relocated to its current space on Dunnell Lane, which they presently rent.

“We’ve always been in need of our own place, we’ve always been in search,” Kinjawi said. After finding the area at 665 Central Ave., which was previously owned by the Pawtucket Teachers Alliance, the land was purchased for $270,000 in 2010. Over the years, the project has been tied to the amount of funding the society has, Kinjawi said, but this year “it was time to start construction.”

The mosque will be one story with a basement and the building will account for approximately 5,000 square feet of the 30,000-square-foot plot of land on Central Avenue. The cost of building the mosque and community center is expected to be close to $1 million. They are paying through donations and while neither Adra nor Kinjawi would say how much has been raised, Adra said “there’s still work to be done.”

While pre-construction work has begun at the vacant lot on Central Avenue, construction is expected to begin within a few months and should be completed within two years, Kinjawi said, again emphasizing that the timeline and project construction is all tied to funding. Until the mosque on Central Avenue opens, the Muslim Society of Rhode Island will continue to operate out of the Dunnell Lane location.

Services offered at the Masjid – Arabic for “mosque” - include Friday prayers at 1 p.m., daily prayers, and weekly lectures every Friday night.

In recent weeks, the project hit a snag among local residents, as a sidewalk on Central Avenue needed to be closed. Adra explained that when excavation commenced, they encountered an issue with sandy land and they had to ensure the foundation was secure, which led to the sidewalk’s closing.

“There was no way to avoid it because of the sandy land,” Adra said. “For safety reasons, we had to close it as a precaution.” However, after working with city officials and the Department of Public Works, a path has been created on Central Avenue that allows people to walk freely without crossing into traffic and at the same time keeps the sidewalk temporarily closed.

Adra estimates that the sidewalk should be fully accessible for pedestrians in four to eight weeks.

The Muslim community is “part of Pawtucket’s fabric,” Kinjawi said. Saying that now is a “tricky time in our nation, that’s why there’s a need of a place to call our own to share the true image and belief of Islam and be a part of the community.”

Adra spoke of the melting pot that is Pawtucket, with many different nationalities and religions coming together to form a community, as he said an “interfaith relationship” is crucial.

Kinjawi said that society members have reached out to some of the churches in the area of Central Avenue and have discussed sharing space and parking in the already tight urban area. Kinjawi said they were looking to incorporate the religious entities and exchange space, as the churches have their services on Sundays while the mosque’s services will be on Friday.

“People are definitely excited,” Adra said, with Kinjawi adding that the mosque and community center will feature a small playground and activity space for children and youths.

While there are eight mosques in Rhode Island, those closest to Pawtucket – which include North Smithfield and Providence – are not an easy drive or easily accessible via public transportation. Adra said that the building of a mosque in the city should allow for better accessibility for those who live in the community.

“It’s not just our community, it’s our neighbors’,” Kinjawi said. “How can we be a part of the fabric? We can offer our services to our neighbors ... It’s more than just a place to pray, it’s a center that will provide information and knowledge.”

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