In 1983, about 60 people gathered at the residence of late Dr Badar Qadri’s residence to discuss the needs of the muslim community in the Western Sydney region. These people were recognised as the Founding members for the association at a later stage. It was decided at that meeting to form an Association which would have a constitution to ensure all the affairs would be managed through the Rules and regulation of that Constitution. At the same meeting there was a discussion on the importance of having a Community Centre to cater the needs of the growing community. At that meeting Brothers were assigned honorary positions to perform various tasks, ie writing the constitution , searching for a property, fund raising, etc.
The first constitution of IAWSS was adopted in 1983. Initially the name of the society was IAWSS but was subsequently changed to Islamic Association of Parramatta. However, the name was reverted back to IAWSS and in March 1986, IAWSS was registered at the Fair Trading and was allocated the trading number 25938.
In 1987, a 3,2acrces land was purchased at the corner of Woodstock and Duke St, with an old run down house. This house was converted to Imam’s residence and part of the house was utilised for prayers and as an Islamic centre. Later on an old shed at the property was converted to a Mosque. In 1992, the foundation of the new Mosque was laid which was our pride and a huge achievement. The number of Muslim brothers were small and also since they were only in Australia for a short period, getting donations was a huge task. Never the less, the Community got behind and worked together with one vision to achieve their goal. They did the maintenance and landscaping, fixed parking lots, etc themselves to save money.
In 2011, a piece of land adjacent to the Mosque was purchased, which is now utilised for parking, school playground and Science Lab. Allhamodollilah it is evident in front of our eyes a beautiful mosque with the best facilities that is very hard to find anywhere is Australia..
Our next goal was to have a school so that our children could get the best circular education in and Islamic environment where the culture, Islamic ethos and inherited beliefs could be maintained. This goal was achieved in 1997, when we commenced our primary school with 33 students from Kindy to Year 4. Initially the name of the school was King Abdul Aziz Primary School, which was subsequently changed to Australian Islamic College Sydney. Allhamdollilah we currently have almost 1000 students and over 70 staff in the school. Due to the rapid demand and increase in the number of students the AICS Board decided to purchase another property. In January 2013, the Board secured a land by purchasing the Jehovas Witness Church on 47 Kildare Rd, Blacktown. We now have the application at the Blacktown City Council to build a 5 story building to accommodate upto 500 students in the first stage followed by another 500 in the second stage. Insha Allah our goal is to commence school in 2014. The AICS board’s dream is to have a separate campus for high school Girls. Once again the Board was on a mission looking for another site. Allhamdollilah we managed to find a land close to our Mosque and School at 24 Abraham St, Rooty Hill which was purchased in August 2013. Currently this is being utilised for parking for the school and Mosque. Work is under progress to build a Girls High school at this site.
This is a summarised version of the history of IAWSS and for further information please refer to Br Qamarul Khan’s mem’oir.
