Meeting to Discuss Nokesville Mosque Planned for Tuesday

The All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS) will hold a public meeting Aug. 12 at 7 p.m. at the Nokesville Volunteer Fire Department, at 12816 Marstellar Drive, to discuss a new mosque/community center they plan to build along Vint Hill Road in Nokesville.

Jonelle Walker of the law firm Walsh, Colucci, Lubeley & Walsh, P.C. disseminated an announcement about the meeting. According to Walker, the firm represents ADAMS “who is seeking a special use permit for a religious institution.” The permit would secure 14 acres to house the building and campus at 12655 Vint Hill Road, which is located directly across the road from Cedar Point Elementary School.

According to the ADAMS website, over the past 30 years the society has grown into one of the largest Muslim communities in the Washington, D.C. region with mosques and satellite prayer services in Sterling, Ashburn, Centreville, Chantilly, Gainesville, Great Falls, Herndon, Leesburg, McLean and Reston, Virginia.

What ADAMS calls its greater Gainesville campus currently meets at a hotel on Vander Lane in Manassas. The new mosque in Nokesville may help provide a more permanent location to serve the same population along the Route 28 corridor while allowing room for growth.

The new greater Gainesville mosque or "masjid" in Nokesville would include a large prayer hall; large activity room for community, religious and social gatherings; a venue for interfaith, outreach and civil programs; an Islamic library open to all people to learn about Islam; and a community center for guest speakers and community dialogue.

"In addition, we will work on correcting the misconceptions of Islam and Muslims in the U.S. and in the West," said the Gainesville page on the ADAMS website.

At the Tuesday evening meeting, the public will have the opportunity to learn more about the mosque, and ask some questions to the ADAMS organizers.

Bristow Beat is currently awaiting a response from ADAMS in order to provide more information in regards to the Tuesday meeting.

The nonprofit organization's mission “is to provide religious, social and education services to enable the Muslim community to fulfill its responsibilities and contribute to the betterment of society by embodying and exemplifying leadership and excellence and fostering peace.”

The plan to build the mosque is already receiving criticism on some political community blog sites, while other community members are praising it on social media.