Al-Islah Mosque (), also known as the Al-Islah Islamic Center or the Al-Islah Jame Masjid, is a

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

following the

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

tradition in

Hamtramck, Michigan Hamtramck ( ; ; ; ) is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An enclave of Detroit, Hamtramck is located roughly north of downtown Detroit, and is surrounded by Detroit on most sides. As of the 2020 census, the city had a po ...

. It was founded in 2000 by immigrants from

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

, of which a large community exists in Hamtramck. Al-Islah Mosque is currently expanding to a bigger building next door.

History

The founders of the mosque,

Bangladeshi Americans Bangladeshi Americans () are American citizens with Bangladeshi origin or descent. Bangladeshi Americans are predominantly Bengali-speaking Muslims. Since the early 1970s, Bangladeshi immigrants have arrived in significant numbers to become o ...

, were followers of Allama Abdul Latif Chowdhury. It first opened in a storefront on Joseph Campau in 2000 and moved into a former medical clinic in 2001. In 2004 the mosque purchased an adjacent building so it could establish a

madrassa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary education or higher learning. ...

(Islamic school). The mosque attracted national attention in 2004, when it requested permission to broadcast its

call to prayer A call to prayer is a summons for participants of a faith to attend a group worship or to begin a required set of prayers. The call is one of the History of telecommunication, earliest forms of telecommunication, communicating to people across gre ...

. This upset many of the non-Muslim residents of the area, which has a large and long established

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

population. Proponents pointed out that the city was already subject to loud bell ringing from the local church, while opponents argued that the church bells served a nonreligious purpose. Though nothing prevented the mosque from broadcasting the Adhan, to begin with, the city council nonetheless added an official "okay" in May 2004. Later that year, the city amended its noise regulations to limit the volume of all religious sounds. Prior to this, other mosques in the

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

area had been using loudspeakers to broadcast their calls to prayer without incident.

References

External links

*Angel, Cecil.
Hamtramck call to prayer dispute is largely forgotten

Archive
. ''

Detroit Free Press The ''Detroit Free Press'' (commonly referred to as the ''Freep'') is a major daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest local newspaper owned by Gannett (the publisher of ''USA Today''), and is operated by the Detro ...

''. March 16, 2006. Asian-American culture in Metro Detroit Mosques in Michigan Buildings and structures in Wayne County, Michigan Culture of Detroit Hamtramck, Michigan Mosques completed in 2000 2000 establishments in Michigan Bangladeshi-American culture Islam in Metro Detroit Sunni mosques in the United States {{US-mosque-stub

History

See also

References

External links