Our story · قصتنا
الجالية العراقية في غرب أستراليا
بنيناها بأيدينا
From borrowed halls
to our own doors
to our own doors
For more than twenty years, the Western Australian Iraqi Community carried its majalis from one rented hall to the next — until it built a home of its own. This is how it happened.
Husseiniyat Imam Al-Sajjad (AS) · Martin, Perth
It began the way so many communities begin — with people gathering wherever they could, and a longing for a place to call their own.
Every Muharram and Ramadhan, and on the nights between, families came together to remember Imam Hussain (AS). The banners were hung and taken down. The pots were carried in and carried out. The chairs were stacked at the end of every night. Twenty years of devotion lived in rooms that were never quite theirs — and through all of it, a quiet resolve grew: one day, the community would build a house for Ahlulbayt (AS) with its own hands.
The journey · المسيرة
Twenty years, in seven steps
01
عشرون عاماً في قاعاتٍ مُستأجَرة
Twenty years of borrowed halls
For more than two decades, WAICI gathered wherever a hall could be hired. The majlis was set up on rows of plastic chairs; the mawkib cooked from great pots and served the whole community — then packed it all away by night's end.
02
أرضٌ لنا
A block of our own
The community set its heart on a permanent home. A block of open land was found in Martin, on the edge of the Perth hills — and with it, a design was drawn and a fundraising effort began that would carry everyone with it.
03
بداية البناء
The walls rise
Brick and steel rose from the site. What had lived for twenty years in rented rooms would finally have walls, a roof, and a foundation of its own.
04
بنيناها بأيدينا
Built by our own hands
Tradesmen and volunteers from the community gave their evenings and weekends — rendering walls, digging the grounds, wiring the lights. Fathers worked beside sons; no hand was too small to help.
05
اللمسات الأخيرة
The finishing touches
The Qur'anic frieze was hung along the main hall, the lighting set, the walls dressed, the carpets laid, the couches placed — a space made ready for both mourning and celebration.
06
الساحات والحديقة
Grounds & gardens
The carpark was laid, native gardens planted around the grounds, and the lawns put down — the last work of many hands before the doors could open.
07
فُتحت الأبواب
The doors open
After years of effort, Husseiniyat Imam Al-Sajjad (AS) opened its doors in Martin — the community's own house, at last. Brothers and sisters, welcome home.
The hall in use · الحسينية في خدمتكم
What the hall holds now
A home is only a home once it is lived in. Since the doors opened, the hall has filled — night after night — with everything the community waited twenty years to hold under one roof.
كلُّ جدارٍ فيها يحملُ ساعاتِ أحدِهم، وكلُّ بلاطةٍ صدقةُ أحدِهم
Every wall here holds someone's hours. Every tile, someone's sadaqah.
The people · الأيادي
Built by many hands
No single name is on this house. It was raised by tradesmen and labourers, by the cooks who stir the pots, by the youth who film the majlis and carry the water, by everyone who gave a night, a skill, or a du'a. That is how it was built — and that is how it is kept.
صدقة جارية
What was built by many hands is kept open the same way
The meals, the school, the lights, the upkeep — all of it is the community's giving. Your sadaqah keeps the doors of the house open.
زوروا الحسينية
Come and see the house
The doors are open to every brother and sister. Come for a program night, and someone will show you around.
52 Mills Rd West, Martin WA 6110
25 minutes from Perth CBD · on-site parking