NZ's oldest mosque gets modern twist

By PATRICK GOWER

New Zealand's oldest mosque is about to undergo final renovations that will align it with Mecca after 23 years of facing offline.

The Ponsonby mosque, on Vermont St, was built in 1979 with its direction for prayer - qibla - about 30 degrees out.

No one at the mosque knows exactly why, but it was not built on the true angle that Muslims should be facing when praying to Allah.

Muslims must face Mecca for prayer five times a day.

The mosque - one of the farthest from the holy city in the world (Dunedin is the farthest) - was built when the Muslim community in central Auckland was small and did not have the money or knowledge to get the calculations exactly right.

But soon afterwards, the leader of the mosque and other followers began to feel it was wrong.

After discussions in 1998, the mosque employed Auckland surveying firm Harrison Grierson to establish the correct alignment to Mecca. It found that the mosque was out by 30 degrees.

The qibla was then checked by a compass-adjusting company.

The shortest distance to Mecca from New Zealand is calculated through the Earth, rather than overland.

Until 1998, devotees had faced west. For the past four years they have prayed more southwest.

Mohammed Faiyum Khan, the mosque president in 1998, said last night that members had decided to use the most accurate calculations to get their prayers right.

"The technology was there, so why not use it?"

Since then the mosque, which has 1000 followers, has been raising funds to change other things now it has established the exact direction of Mecca.

Funds for a new mehraab - like an altar - have been raised and the work is expected to be finished by next month. It will sit exactly on the qibla.

A pillar obscuring the view of the mehraab may have to be removed.

All Muslims face in the direction of Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, when praying because of a special building there called the Ka'bah, which they believe was chosen by Allah as a common place for people of the world to pay homage to him.

The present leader of the mosque, Sheikh Mohammed Airot, said it was vital when praying to face the direction of Mecca, no matter how far away it was.

"You obey the order of the mighty Allah."