Planned Mosque Causing Quite a Stir

March 14, 2007

Author: Matt O'Brien

Source: Inside Bay Area

http://www.insidebayarea.com/dailyreview/localnews/ci_5432719

HAYWARD — The neighborhood surrounding Gading Road always has been known for its row of Christian churches, most of them built in the 1950s and 1960s to accommodate the rapid growth of nearby housing tracts.

But it has never seen the likes of a minaret before.

That could change now that a group of Fijian Muslims wants to build a domed mosque, capped with four minarets, on a narrow slice of land north of Glassbrook Elementary School.

Mohammed Khan, a longtime Hayward resident who owns the land and is president of the group, said he has spent years raising money and looking for the right spot to establish a local place to worship.

"We really need a place locally," said Khan, who regularly crosses the Bay with his family to attend a mosque in South San Francisco.