Alaskan Muslims raising the roof of state's first mosque

[Uncle88]

The holy land is 6,000 miles away and for now they worship in a strip mall, but Islamic faithful head to Anchorage

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Alaska's first mosque has risen quietly over the last few years in a gravel lot in a South Anchorage commercial district, a neighbor to a Korean Presbyterian church, a couple of auto repair garages, a drive-through Chinese restaurant and a Sons of Norway hall.

A few weeks ago, Sam Obeidi, vice president of the Islamic Community Center Anchorage Alaska, turned a key and pushed open the mosque's door, flipping on a light in a hallway that smelled of drywall plaster and new carpet.

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