The first mosque in the Outer Hebrides will open this summer after backers raised more than £50,000 in an online appeal.
It is expected to open despite the Presbyterian Free Church urging its followers to pray that ‘no mosque will ever appear in Stornoway’, the main town on the Isle of Lewis where a house is to be converted.
A crowdfunding campaign for the mosque, which has been granted planning permission by the Western Isles Council, raised £56,000 within days of being started by builder Aihtsham Rashid.
The 39-year-old from Leeds had been contacted by the growing Syrian community on Lewis, whose relatively small numbers were recently swollen by the arrival of six refugee families from the war-torn country.
Mr Rashid said: ‘Against all odds and opposition from the Free Church of Scotland they have now been granted permission to build. I have been personally requested to go up and help them with the build and planning due to my experience in building mosques.’
