Abbotsford is a beautiful city located in the Fraser Valley region and this region’s Muslim community began with a small Muslim population of four to five families. Initially, only Friday Jummah prayers and Eid prayers were arranged by Muslim brothers and sisters at the local community halls and in each others’ homes. Over time, the Muslim community grew as Muslims from different origins settled in Abbotsford and the surrounding regions of the Fraser Valley.
In 2003 it was felt that a permanent prayer place was needed for the growing Muslim community and moving from place to place for prayer was no longer an option. A few brothers took the responsibility to rent a 650 sqft location in Abbotsford and the first non-residential Musallah was established for the Fraser Valley Muslim community. After overcoming various challenges, brothers who were in charge of the Musallah effectively attracted more Muslim brothers and sisters. Within two years there was not enough space to accommodate all the Muslim brothers and sisters, so individuals actively began searching for a larger location.
In 2005, a 1200sqft space was found at Cedar Park Place in Abbotsford and the Musallah was moved to this new location. Arrangements were made to have daily Quran classes for children as well as Quran lecture nights for adults in addition to the five daily prayers and the Jummah prayers. This new space, with its ideal location, additional services and dedicated management became very popular among the Fraser Valley Muslim community. In fact, within only the first two years, even this location became too small to accommodate all the brothers and sisters for the Jummah prayers.
Faced with this rapid growth of the Muslim community in the Fraser Valley, a quick fix was required. In 2008 a location of over 4000sqft (an old church) within the same building was secured for the purpose of a Musallah. Today this Musallah location offers a prayer area for males that can accommodate approximately 400 people, a separate and spacious prayer room for females, an activity room for children, separate Wudu places for brothers and sisters, a full kitchen and eating area as well as plenty of storage space.
Alhamdullilah, today the Abbotsford Musallah offers Quran classes for children and adults, Quran lecture nights, marriage services, activities for our brothers, sisters and youth, community dinners as well as the five daily prayers, Jummah prayers and Eid prayers. We understand that soon the present Musallah location will also become too small for the Fraser Valley Muslim community. Therefore, we are actively working on a plan to build our first Mosque for the Fraser Valley region.