Australian Muslim helps build a mosque in Papua New Guinea
Convert Musa Stranger spent seven weeks, and faced land dispute that threatened his life, to complete village's first permanent prayer house
SYDNEY, Australia (MNTV) — For Muslims in a remote village along Papua New Guinea’s Highlands Highway, Friday prayers once meant gathering in temporary bush shelters.
That changed on Aug. 1, when Musa Stranger, one of Australia’s most followed Muslim converts, helped open a permanent mosque built largely by hand, the Australian Muslim Times reported.
The project almost didn’t happen. Stranger had planned a modest two-week trip to install water tanks in a Highlands village where he had helped build a mosque the previous year, but the outbreak of the U.S.-Israel war on Iran delayed his travel.
A conversation with a friend redirected him to another Highlands province, home to around 200 Muslims with no place to pray, and the plan grew from a water tank into a full mosque.
An initial fundraising target of about $17,000 rose as word spread that Stranger was on the ground.
Working with milled timber from felled gum trees and iron sheeting cut on site, he hired three local carpenters — two of them Christian, who both embraced Islam during the build.
What began with barely ten men grew into a daily community effort as the walls rose and the minaret was fitted.
“Once these boys started putting up the framing, the Muslims were coming every day,” he said.
“They could see something happening.”
The seven weeks were not without danger. Stranger described tense confrontations over a land dispute, as some locals were unsettled by a permanent structure replacing the bush shelters.
“There was a week where I thought I was going to die there,” he said. He was urged by a government contact to evacuate, but no flights were available. The man behind the dispute later accepted Islam, and it was resolved.
In all, 18 people converted during his stay, including a village pastor.
At the opening, volunteers handed out 50 bags of food and 387 lunch boxes, gone within hours.
Stranger is now seeking a charity partner to cover the mosque’s running costs, including the imam’s wages and water during the dry season.
We must take charge of our narrative. Research indicates that 92% of their Muslim coverage is negative. Help us change that.
Have Your Say!
Have you been affected by the issues raised in this story? Please share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@soundvision.com.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a Muslim Network TV’s representative. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
Tweet: @MuslimNetworkTV
