VESTAL — When Afzal Rehman arrived here more than 20 years ago for a medical residency, he didn’t know of any others locally who shared his religious faith.

Rehman, an Ahmadiyya Muslim, soon left Johnson City to continue his medical training, spending time in Georgia and Wisconsin, but chose to return to New York and moved to Vestal in 1997 with his wife to raise their family.

Now 52, the cardiologist with three children recalled the decision to return to the Southern Tier as an obvious choice, even though fellow members of his Muslim sect had yet to begin settling in the region at the time.

“This is the first place I came to in the U.S., so it felt like home,” said Rehman, who studied medicine in London after leaving Pakistan.

Today, so many Ahmadiyya families have joined Rehman in the Tier — about 60 people in all — that he recently started looking into constructing a Muslim community center, a plan that is currently being considered for approval by town officials.

“Gradually more people came here and some are related, but not all of them,” he said, noting his sister and her family arrived initially before others were soon drawn to the region.

The resulting close-knit religious community, which differs from other Muslim sects served by area Islamic organizations, plans to build the 2,640-square-foot center on a vacant parcel it purchased on Sheedy Road, just off Route 26 in the sprawling hills overlooking town, Rehman said. The group of local residents is raising money for the project, including the $55,000 paid in December for the property.

He described the center as a “place of worship” similar to a Catholic church, saying the main difference is that, instead of Sundays, his congregation gathers for prayer on Fridays.

“Currently we don’t have a place to do that, so we do that in people’s homes,” Rehman said, adding the limited space makes it tough to accommodate the growing number of families.

For special religious events and larger gatherings, Rehman said the group also has occasionally rented space, including at the India Cultural Centre in Vestal, which is across the street from his proposed community center site.

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