Sunday, December 16, 2007

Seóul, South Korea - 12,215,000



As a first step towards an effective Islamic work in Korea, the early Muslim brothers organised a Korea Muslim society. This Islamic society elected Almarhum Muhammad Umar Kim Jin Kyu as president. Later, the leaders of the Korean Muslim were invited to visit Islamic Countries and some of the Korean Muslims were sent to Muslim College in Malaysia to be trained as future Islamic workers and leaders.

Malaysian Delegations led by Vice Minister Tunku Abdul Razak and his wife, visited the site of the proposed masjid. Later on Haji Mohammad Nuh, a Malaysian government officer, saw that a permanent base should be erected to carry out dawah activities.

So, with the Malaysian government's donation of $33,000, he handed over the money to the Korean Muslim Community to build a masjid in 1963. Unfortunately, the construction of the masjid could not be completed due to various reasons among them were the inflation.

he Korean Muslims' long dream, the construction of Central Masjid was materialized in 1976. The opening of Central Masjid and Islam Center were the most important turning points for the history of Korean Muslims. At the opening ceremony, 55 representatives of around 20 countries glorified the dream of Korean Muslims, and the magnificent opening ceremony served as an outburst of sudden increase in the number of Korean Muslims.

The opening of the first Masjid of Korea contributed to rapid development of Islam in Korea. Foreign Dignitaries (V.I.P) who participated in the ceremony visited the then Prime Minister Choi Gyu Hwa to perform a role of raising the interest in Islam.


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