construction begins on Bohra Masjid in Fremont

It's always nice to see local press about my community - this article in the SJ Mercury News is a nice piece about our new masjid there. It also features a lot of good quotes from my friend, Yusuf Ezzy:

``We want to bring his holiness to our town to bless us and leave us with a lot of good fortune,'' said Yussef Ezzy, a Fremont Dawoodi Bohra Muslim.

The history of the Dawoodi Bohra sect in the Bay Area dates back to the late 1950s when the largely professional community of engineers, doctors and business people began emigrating from India.

The masjid, or mosque, will be used exclusively by Dawoodi Bohra Muslims, who number about 50 families in the Fremont area and about 90 families in the Bay Area, according to Mufaddal Hotelwala, a spokesman for the group. He estimates there are about 1,500 families nationwide.

Ezzy, 28, who grew up in Fremont, said his religion played a large role in his life. The community is small and intimate, and its members socialize and worship together.

``I think of myself like anyone else, but as Muslims, we pray five times a day. We don't just go to church once a week,'' he said. ``Furthermore, what his holiness Burhanuddin says is very important; he guides us in a spiritual sense and gives us practical guidance, too.''