WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — Imam Habib Sarfraz commutes up to three hours a day to perform his duties to Utah's Muslim community.
"The imam has so many responsibilities, as you know, he has to be here for five daily prayers," Sarfraz told FOX 13 News in a recent interview at the Khadeeja mosque. "Me, specifically, I'm living far from here in Lehi."
It's where the religious leader can find affordable housing.
"The cost of housing as we know is skyrocketing," said Aden Batar, the president of the Islamic Society of Greater Salt Lake. "Easily over $2,000 rent which is really, our society cannot pay that much. We’re a small community."
So to keep the imam closer to the community, Society trustee Ghulam Patel said they came up with an idea: "Let's just build a house."
So the community is putting a modular home on property the Islamic of Society of Greater Salt Lake owns near the Khadeeja Islamic Center. The modest, prefabricated home was placed on a foundation on Friday.
"Imam plays a major role into our religion and so... we are building a house for the Islamic Society to use for the imam, so that way it’s easier for him to go to the mosque," said Batar.
The imam said it was appreciated.
"This is a nice gesture from the community to say that 'Hey, we’re here to support you,'" Sarfraz said.
The Islamic Society of Greater Salt Lake has so far raised over $100,000 to help pay for the home. The entire project is expected to cost about $400,000. They are fundraising and asking for community donations to help pay for the remainder of the costs. To donate to the effort, click here.
Utah's Muslim community is growing in size. Patel recalled only 120 Muslims in the state in the 1980s.
"There are at least 12 masjid in Utah now, so it’s grown quite a bit," he said. "I would guess we are close to 100,000 now."
After the housing project is completed, Batar said they would like to eventually build a community center next to the Khadeeja Islamic Center.
"We have seen a lot of refugees that are coming from Muslim countries, just a lot of international students coming from Middle East and other parts of the world. So we want to have a welcome center," he said. "Non-Muslims can also come and join us and learn about Islam and we can have that friendship."
