Islamabad: A Pakistani businessman has set up what he calls the first sect-free mosque in Islamabad — to enable worshippers to perform prayers under the same roof without discriminating along sectarian lines.
Zahid Iqbal reportedly conceived the idea in 2010 but it took him a long time to realise his dream after he bought a plot for the project at the foot of the Marglla Hills near Islamabad.
At first, authorities refused to register it as a sect-free mosque as under Capital Development Authority rules, every mosque has to declare its sect following before being granted permission to build the mosque.
To bypass the rules, he registered a trust and then sub-registered the mosque under the trust’s banner: The Al Kitaab Foundation Trust.
By Mohsin Ali, Correspondent
