Norman mosque holds open house, welcomes community members
Kyven Zhao, The Oklahoma Daily
Nouman Jan (left), executive president of the Islamic Society of Norman, shows visitors the library that houses many texts important to the Islamic faith at Masjid Annur, the mosque recently built on Lindsey Street, on Sunday, July 15, 2012.
The Islamic Society of Norman welcomed members of the Norman community to an open house in its new mosque Sunday.
The society invited guests into the 7,000 square foot Masjid An-Nur, which opened in March. The mosque is built atop the location of the society’s original site of worship, a remodeled house from the 1950s.
Islamic Society officers greeted guests at the door and showed them around the mosque, which features a library, a kitchen, washrooms and prayer halls. There are separate prayer halls for the men and women of the society, both of which face Mecca, the holiest city in Islam.
Norman resident Sandra Shehab was visiting the mosque for the first time. Shehab, whose husband is Muslim, said she was interested to see the mosque after watching its construction over the past few years.
Mary Garter also attended the open house. Garter said she was interested to see the facility because she wanted to show support for the Islamic community.
Guests of the open house gathered in the mosque’s prayer halls for a welcome by the society's officers and a speech on “building bridges” by Imam Imad Enchassi from the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City.
Enchassi used the metaphor of a bridge to describe how Muslims and Christians share many of the same religious traditions, such as prayer, fasting and pilgrimage.
He also spoke of how people of more than 70 ethnicities come together to worship in the mosque, including members from Pakistan, India and “all the way from the foreign country of Detroit, Mich.”
The mosque is open to all members of the Norman community from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day.
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