Women gave their jewelry, children smashed their piggy-banks, and families took out second mortgages or sold their homes outright.

It's the house nearly two decades of sacrifice built, it's the "house of God that is open for all," it's Canada's largest mosque, funded solely by the selflessness of its congregation that the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community hope will help bridge the gap of understanding between all of Calgary's faithful for generations to come, said Dr. Safeer Khan.

"We don't only want other people to know about us, what we stand for, we want to know about them, we want to foster understanding, we want to provide a place that is open to debate and discussion, where religious leaders and normal people can come and openly share their viewpoints," said Khan, noting extremist interpretations of violent jihad have put a negative stigma on Islam and he wants that to change.

"We have such tremendous joy in our hearts right now."

Ahmadiyya children are now buying fancy clothes, Khan bought four cots and put them in his basement and the community has opened their homes for hundreds who are streaming into Calgary from abroad without a place to stay for the 48,000 square foot, $17 million mosque's official opening at 4353 54 Avenue NE Saturday, expected to draw 5,000 people including Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

"We're extremely excited," said Ahamadiyya Canada's Farhan Khokhar. "We're just enjoying every moment of it."