The Islamic Center of Pittsburgh is an Islamic educational, social services, and community outreach organization in the

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

neighborhood of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1989, it is the largest

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 ...

in the city, attracting 600 to 700 participants for weekly prayers. It provides social services for people of all religious backgrounds and engages in educational outreach and

interfaith dialogue Interfaith dialogue, also known as interreligious dialogue, refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religion, religious traditions (i.e. "faiths") and/or spirituality, spiritual or humanism, hum ...

to foster community understanding and cooperation.

Mosque

The Islamic Center of Pittsburgh (ICP) was founded in 1989 in the

neighborhood of

, Pennsylvania. It is the largest mosque in the city, regularly attracting 600 to 700 participants for the weekly prayer service. In December 2016, average attendance at Friday prayers was 750 participants.

Activities

ICP is actively involved in education, social services, and community outreach, extending its services to Muslims and non-Muslims in

Western Pennsylvania Western Pennsylvania is a region in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the Unite ...

, Eastern

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, and Northern West Virginia. Its educational programs include workshops on Islamic practice, a Muslim youth center, a

Sunday school ] A Sunday school, sometimes known as a Sabbath school, is an educational institution, usually Christianity, Christian in character and intended for children or neophytes. Sunday school classes usually precede a Sunday church service and are u ...

, and a support group for converts to Islam. On the social services front, ICP operates a monthly Food bank, food pantry in conjunction with the Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank. This service is open to both Muslims and non-Muslims. In response to anti-Muslim rhetoric and

Islamophobia Islamophobia is the irrational fear of, hostility towards, or hatred against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general. Islamophobia is primarily a form of religious or cultural bigotry; and people who harbour such sentiments often stereot ...

, ICP has engaged in numerous community outreach initiatives. It offers an "Islam 101" course educating non-Muslims about the tenets and practices of Islam, and a course guiding non-Muslims to support and ally with those who practice Islam. It makes itself available to the media and participates in community panels to dispel myths about Islam. Following the 2015 San Bernardino attack in California, ICP hosted a series of interfaith dinners. A local

Reform Jewish Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous rev ...

congregation, Temple Sinai, reciprocates by hosting ICP members for an annual

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the seven-day week, week—i.e., Friday prayer, Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews ...

service and dinner.

Interfaith relations

ICP engages in interfaith dialogue with other faith groups and secular organizations. It holds an annual Humanity Day awards ceremony during

Ramadan Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (''Fasting in Islam, sawm''), communal prayer (salah), reflection, and community. It is also the month in which the Quran is believed ...

, which honors Pittsburgh citizens who advance interfaith relations. ICP regularly extends invitations to members of other religious congregations, including Jewish and Lutheran, to tour its mosque. Following the

mass shooting A mass shooting is a violent crime in which one or more attackers use a firearm to Gun violence, kill or injure multiple individuals in rapid succession. There is no widely accepted specific definition, and different organizations tracking su ...

at the Tree of Life synagogue in neighboring

Squirrel Hill Squirrel Hill is a residential neighborhood in the East End of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The city officially divides it into two neighborhoods, Squirrel Hill North and Squirrel Hill South, but it is almost universally treated ...

, ICP joined with two Muslim nonprofits to open a LaunchGood crowdfunding page to help pay for the burial of the victims and survivors' medical bills, with the funds to be distributed by ICP. As of November 1, the page has exceeded $220,000 in contributions.

References

External links

* {{Mosques in the United States, state=collapsed Mosques in Pennsylvania Islam in Pennsylvania Religious buildings and structures in Pittsburgh 1989 establishments in Pennsylvania

Mosque

Activities

Interfaith relations

See also

References

External links