Groundbreaking day
By JENNIFER KELLEY
Cherry Hill Sun
5/16/2007

Mosque welcomed to Cherry Hill’s diverse community

It began in 2004 with a foundation stone laid into the earth by the internationally celebrated Muslim leader Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, and on Sunday, the groundbreaking for Cherry Hill’s first mosque was held at 7 Perina Blvd.

The structure, which will be erected within the next year, will join the township’s landscape of religious diversity, including synagogues, churches and Hindu and Buddhist temples.

The worldwide Muslim organization Anjuman-e-Fakhri is about 60 strong in South Jersey, said the organization’s secretary and project manager for the mosque Quresh Dahodwala, who has lived in Cherry Hill for more than 30 years.

“Once the mosque is built, that number will multiply,” he told The Sun.

Presently, the area’s Muslim community worships in their homes, Dahodwala said.

With the construction of the mosque, “Cherry Hill will get a beautiful structure and a community of congregants that will be a positive addition to the township and neighboring areas,” said resident Farhat Bivjii, who sits on the township’s Zoning Board.

Bivjii recused herself from all discussions and the vote concerning the mosque.

“I’m very proud of this township,” she noted. “It’s one of the few places that has churches, temples, synagogues and, soon, a mosque. It speaks highly to the tolerance and open-mindedness of our residents.”

Cherry Hill has a very strong interfaith community, said Alan Respler, director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of South Jersey. “There’s plenty of dialogue between Jewish, Catholic and Muslim communities.

“We have a Catholic Jewish Commission that deals with interfaith issues, but after Sept. 11, many of us became more interested in learning about Islam in general. We decided as a group to do some outreach and developed a committee that would focus (on the relations of the three faiths),” Respler said.

The impetus for the move, he added, was the “anonymous, bigoted opposition to the mosque in Voorhees.”

A few years ago, a 15-family Muslim congregation sought Voorhees Township’s approval to build a mosque off Haddonfield-Berlin Road. Soon after, an anonymous flyer was distributed throughout the community suggesting that such a structure might attract worshippers with links to terrorism. Resistance to the mosque drew national attention when newspapers, such as USA Today, wrote articles on the matter, according to officials.

“In the end, the only issue the Zoning Board had was that the area they wanted to build the mosque in wasn’t zoned for worship – it was residential,” said Voorhees Deputy Mayor Mario DiNatale. “The board simply required that those building the mosque had to make it blend into the housing around it.”

The project prevailed – with help from people of many religions who supported the endeavor – and the mosque opened in 2005.

“They’re great people, inviting residents and township officials to their various events,” DiNatale said. “From everything I’ve heard, they’ve been very good neighbors.”

While Voorhees’ mosque is indistinguishable from the houses around it from the outside, Cherry Hill’s mosque will be a unique, vibrant structure, according to those familiar with the project.

Milan Construction has taken on the distinctive endeavor. “It’s actually a Hindu construction company,” Dahodwala said. “In India, there is a rivalry between Hindus and Muslims, and relations are not good – but that’s not the case here in the United States.”

He added that the mosque is sure to become an area landmark and “a sight to see.”

“We pride ourselves on the uniqueness of our structures – (a mosque) is such a spiritual place. You enter it and you want to pray.”

He compared the feeling to walking into an ornate, historic church such as Christ the King in Haddonfield. “You go in and it immediately puts you in a spiritual mood.”

The project has received enormous support from the community since day one, Dahodwala said. “We’re so fortunate to be building in this area.

“Interfaith activity is necessary in order to have such a pleasant, livable community. We can all learn about one another, making it possible to break down stereotypical information that some may have about certain faiths,” he said. “It breaks down the barriers of ignorance.”

Mayor Bernie Platt concurred.

“To have another type of place of worship such as this is important to Cherry Hill. It shows what a diverse, all-inclusive community we are, and how welcoming everyone is to every race, religion and culture,” he said. “People move here because of the diversity our community offers.”