Construction under way on funeral chapel in Annandale

Five years after the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a funeral chapel Annandale, construction is well underway. The new facility will provide funerals in accordance with Sharia-based Islamic traditions

The building, at 6839 Braddock Road, is across the street from the Mustafa Center, which is in charge of the project. It is owned by the Afghan Academy, a nonprofit based in Alexandria.

Construction should be completed in December, says Qari Safiullah, manager and imam at the Mustafa Center. Since the project was approved in January 2015, the center has been engaged in the permitting process and fundraising. 

Related story: Supervisors approve Afghan funeral chapel on Braddock Road

The facility is needed because there aren’t any funeral chapels in the Northern Virginia area to specifically serve the needs of the fast-growing Muslim population, estimated at 300,000. Currently, the Mustafa Center has contracts with three non-Muslim funeral homes, in Alexandria, Falls Church, and Fredericksburg. 

The new funeral chapel will have nine freezers and could host up to three funerals a day, Safiullah says. A funeral could have up to 60 guests and typically lasts two hours. Funerals will be held Saturdays through Thursdays.