By: Aaron Bundu Lahai—Head of Media & Public Relations
On Sunday, 2nd February 2025, Sierra Leone Vice President Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh launched the construction of an extended four-story Jamiul Atiq Mosque on Davies Street, Fourah Bay Community in Freetown. In his address, Vice President Jalloh recalled his interaction with a lot of Jamaats across Sierra Leone and supported Islamic events. The Honourable Vice President expressed maximum respect for the Fourah Bay community for their dedication, commitment, and support towards Islam. “When you look at their dedication and the manner in which they put resources into their masjids, it is very admirable.”.
Vice President Jalloh told the gathering that masjid means jamaat, noting that a masjid without a jamaat is just an empty building. He continued that the jamaat has a responsibility to ensure the masjid functions, emphasizing that the jamaat should support the masjid as it is done in other countries like Senegal, where the jamaat supports the imams and other auxiliary staff in mosques.
Vice President Jalloh thanked the Fourah Bay Jamaat for doing extremely well for the level of organization in their masjids, noting that he was impressed with the two levels of organizations managing the Jamiul Atiq Mosque. He stated that every Muslim child has a responsibility to transfer the Islamic religion by investing in the religion for the generation yet unborn. He described the occasion as one that Islam teaches.
He assured the jamaat that he would do everything possible to support the project and ensure that the project succeeds. He informed the people that his financial support towards the project will be brought to the jamaat by Professor Babatunde Karim. The vice president was accompanied by various Fullah stakeholders, including the deputy Fullah tribal head in Freetown.
Alhaji Professor Abdul Babatunde Karim, who doubles as the secretary to the building committee, revealed that the Jamiul Atiq Masjid was founded in 1833 but has gone through transformation from 1836, when the mosque was made into a bigger facility, to 1876, when the mosque was transformed into a permanent structure. He informed that the mosque served as the central mosque in Freetown at that time. Prof. Karim told the people that the present architecture of the mosque was constructed in 1982, though it cannot house the present jamaat. He explained that the expanded building project is a result of the inability of the present facility to accommodate the jamaat, especially during the rains. He stated that the four-story building will serve as an extended mosque to the existing masjid.
Alhaji Alieu Mahdi, who also doubles as the chairman of the building committee, explained that there are two bodies responsible for the administration of the mosque. The two bodies are the Trust body with twelve members and the Annual Assembly with also twelve members. He further explained that the two bodies are responsible for directing the activities of the mosque. The ceremony was climaxed with the turning of the sod by the Honourable Vice President Jalloh and a fundraising program.
