LEWISTON – Sandwiched between Frenchy’s Barbershop and Marois Greek Restaurant on downtown Lisbon Street is the Lewiston Islamic Mosque.

From the outside, Maine’s newest mosque appears to be just another vacant storefront.

But inside, dozens of men sit on colorful mats chatting in Arabic. Behind a pink tapestry that divides the narrow room, women in hijabs (head and torso wraps) serve food and keep a watchful eye on their children.

After searching for more than three months, members of the local Somali community settled on this storefront as the place where they will pray five times a day and teach their children about Islam. About 200 people took their shoes off at the door at the mosque’s grand opening Saturday.

The event brought together Muslims from as far away as Boston for the afternoon prayer and an authentic Muslim lunch of sambusa (ground beef and onions,) rice and salad.

Local dignitaries, including state Sen. Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston, turned out for the celebration.

Mosque spokesman Hassan Alew welcomed the crowd. He explained that the religion practiced at the Lewiston Islamic Mosque would be different from that espoused by the terrorists linked to the Sept. 11 attacks.

“Muslim communities totally condemned them and their barbaric acts, [which] are not based on any parts of Muslim faith,” he said. “Islam stands for peace, and it propagates peace and tranquility.”

Several hundred Somali families relocated to Lewiston from other U.S. cities in July and have been looking for a place to worship and carry on cultural traditions, Alew said.

This is the fourth mosque to open in Maine; one is in Orono and two are in Portland. It will be open from 5:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., long enough for all five of the mandatory Muslim prayers, Alew said.