Sheung Shui Mosque and Islamic Centre


The Sheung Shui Mosque and Islamic Centre is a proposed mosque and Islamic centre currently under construction in Fanling-Sheung Shui New Town, North District, New Territories, Hong Kong. It will be the 7th mosque built in Hong Kong and the first one in New Territories. Upon completion, the mosque will serves for the 7,000 Muslims living in New Territories. It will be operated by United Muslims Association of Hong Kong.

History

In 1990, the Incorporated Trustees of the Islamic Community Fund of Hong Kong made preliminary inquiries on the possibility to construct a mosque with recreational facilities at D.D. 51, Tin Sum Village, Fanling, New Territories. Located at the top of a hill, this peace of land was offered to the trustees by its late owner Mr. Mohamed Alli Din. The trustee was pleased with the site due to its serene ambiance. However, after 2.5 years waiting, in 1993 the British Hong Kong government didn't support the mosque proposal due to strong objection from local communities. The proposed location of the mosque was deemed inappropriate due to its proximity with an existing Taoist temple in the vicinity. After the government dropped the proposal, the trustee dropped the matter and didn't follow up.
After the subsequent two failed attempts, the site search was completed on 15 December 1997 and a land at Lot No. 203 Area 6-B of the Fanling-Sheung Shui New Town was proposed for the mosque and Islamic centre construction. After several objections and compromises with the local community, the grant was approved and the 50-year lease of the land was executed on 23 April 2006 under several primary conditions with a cost of HK$9.8 million. However, 2 years after securing the land, construction for the mosque could not be started due to lack of financial resources.
On 22 January 2014, the construction work finally began starting with the soil investigation. However, as of 2018, the construction has not started due to budget constrain and the cancellation of budget support from Saudi Arabia in 2016 due to the low oil price.

Architecture

The area involved for the construction is 2,046 m2. The overall building comprises six stories, where two of them will be allocated for Sheung Shui Mosque and the rest are for home for 200 old people, clinic and an English-medium secondary school.

Transportation

The mosque will be served North from Sheung Shui Station of the MTR.