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Our History

The concept of building the Canberra Islamic Centre (CIC) came about when a few members of the Canberra Muslim community felt the need for a dedicated meeting place for the Muslims of Canberra. This small group of families started meeting at the Tuggeranong Community Centre. The vision was to develop an Islamic cultural centre, which could serve the on going social, spiritual, recreational, welfare and religious needs of the ACT and the regional community. The plan also included the building of the Australian National Islamic Library (ANIL) which was envisaged to be the largest Islamic library in the Southern Hemisphere.

In December 1993 a Crown Lease was awarded to the CIC. With the generous donations from the Muslim community of the ACT the development and construction of the CIC including ANIL was started. From this point on, the CIC has served the on-going social, spiritual, recreational, welfare and religious needs of the ACT community.

In response to the members’ religious needs, the CIC has been holding regular daily congregational prayers as well as Friday and Eid prayers. In January 2010 a full time Imam was employed to lead the prayers and to provide religious guidance and pastoral care to the CIC members.

Need for a dedicated place of worship was realized and Masjid Project was launched in 2011. With the arrival of a full time Imam and with community support project was started on the east side of the CIC complex. We were fortunate enough to get substantial financial support from the Government of Kuwait for the completion of the Masjid Sabah Al Ahmad Islamic Education Centre on 4th May 2018. Masjid can accommodate up to 1000 worshippers and is the biggest masjid in Canberra.