DAR AL HARB - U.S.A. - MASSACHUSETTS: A MUEZZIN CALL HEARD IN BOSTON

First call to prayers at the largest mosque in New England

BOSTON -- Thousands of worshippers gathered in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood Saturday to celebrate as construction workers lowered a bronze cap on the minaret of the largest mosque in New England.

Some Muslim women and men had tears streaming down their faces and others raised their hands in prayers as a large copper cap was hoisted by crane to the top of the structure -- symbolizing the near completion of construction after years of legal wrangling.

The muezzin -- a man appointed to call Muslims to prayer -- broadcast a symbolic call that drew at least 2,000 people to pray on the grounds of the Islamic Society of Boston's mosque.

Worshippers, however, must wait for at least six months before they could pray inside the 70,000-square-foot mosque because of ongoing construction, officials said.

Saturday's gathering also sought to raise funds for the $14 million mosque and a related Cultural Center. Some worshippers donated cash, jewelry and other possessions.

In a dramatic gesture, a grade-school girl walked up to the podium, took off what appeared to be gold bracelets and gave them to the man leading the public fundraising drive. A real estate agent also pledged an unspecified percentage of his future earnings for the cause.

The event comes about two weeks after two sides in a legal dispute about the construction of the mosque agreed to drop legal actions against each other.

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