The first Shia mosque in Central Africa

Located in the city of Douala, the economic capital of Cameroon, is the Imam Hussein Mosque (peace be upon him).

The mosque is the only Shia mosque in the city and the first in Central Africa.

In the year 2000, the first call to prayer including the third testimony of Imam Ali (peace be upon him) was raised in this legendary place.

At first, the Islamic place of worship was a simple house of 3 rooms that served as a library and place of prayer of the first Shias in Cameroon.

In 2006, it was built in the shape of a mosque under the supervision of Haji Muhammad Salisu, who kindly gave his land to the young Shia community. Believers contributed to its accomplishment for two years, making it independent until today.

The mosque was built on an area of ​​150 square meters, and contains a library with approximately 300 books, a school, a mortuary, two prayer halls for women and men, a kitchen, and the upper floor of the mosque which can accommodate up to 250 worshipers.

With its oriental architecture, written inside its large green dome is the names of the 14 infallible handwritten from the Middle Ages.

This mosque also held the first Friday prayers according to Shia rituals and the first Husseini ceremony in Central Africa.

Even though it is located in the heart of a Sunni Muslim District, the believers enter and leave the mosque in complete safety.

Today, the Imam Hussein Mosque is run by Sheikh Abdul Kamil, a former student of the Qom Seminary in Iran. The library department is headed by Abu Hussein, who is also a former seminary student.

This mosque had the honor of raising the red banner of Imam Hussein on its roof in 2019 in the presence of crowds of believers.

Since then, every year in the month of Muharram, the ceremonies of hoisting the Husseini banner are held.

Shias in Cameroon constitute one of the religious minorities in the country.