Las Vegas to get its first Muslim cemetery

LAS VEGAS: After an appeal by residents in Las Vegas was dismissed by the Clark County Planning Commission on Wednesday, the area may get its first Muslim cemetary.

Earlier, the plan for the cemetery on a patch of land, next to an Islamic academy near Warm Springs and Bermuda roads was approved by the Clark County commissioners, but some nearby residents opposed the placement of the cemetery in the neighborhood.

According to Dr Aslam Abdullah, director of the Islamic Society of Nevada, the opposition by the residents was a result of a theological problem.

"We don't have a place. We need a place. But we don't want a place at the expense of our neighbors," Abdullah said.

Abdullah also said that an earlier effort by a different group to build a Muslim cemetery in the northeast valley in 2012 ended with a fire at the construction site, which he believes was intentionally set and considers it as a hate crime since the cause of the fire was never determined.

There are around 18,000 Muslims in the region and no dedicated cemetery for the community.

This article originally appeared on Daily Sabah