New mosque planned for local Muslim community

A new mosque is planned for construction this year, according to a report from Portuguese news agency Lusa.

According to the report, local Imam Ding Shaojie confirmed construction will commence as soon as government authorization is received. The new mosque will be erected on the same site as the existing mosque.

Specific details on the construction timeline or the expected completion date are unconfirmed as yet.

The future mosque will cover an area of around 1,250 square meters with the capacity to receive up to 600 worshippers.

In the same report, the local Muslim community leader said the small size and poor conditions of the current prayer space render it unable to meet the community’s needs.

Ding also underscored the importance of providing the religious community with a dignified space.

“We have two major holidays, the first of which is Eid. After the fasting of Ramadan we gather here to pray. Every year it rains, but what can we do? We have to pray outside because there are always so many people. So we have two sessions, and each session has about 1,500 participants,” he said, as quoted by Lusa.

Currently, there are no official figures on the number of practicing Muslims in Macau in the absence of organized records. However, the Imam estimated that before the Covid-19 pandemic, the community size likely ranged between 5,000 to 10,000 individuals.