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Islamic Center of America
Religion
Affiliation	Islam
Branch/tradition	Shia
Leadership	Sheikh Ahmad Hammoud
Year consecrated	September 20, 1963 May 12, 2005 (current location)
Location
Location	Dearborn, Michigan
Location in the USA
Geographic coordinates	42°19′48″N 83°13′47″W / 42.3301°N 83.2296°W / 42.3301; -83.2296
Architecture
Architect(s)	David Donnellon
Type	Islamic architecture
Completed	2005
Construction cost	$14 million
Specifications
Capacity	3,000+
Dome height (outer)	150-feet
Minaret(s)	2
Minaret height	10 stories tall
Website
www.icofa.com

The Islamic Center of America (Arabic: ٱلْمَرْكَز ٱلْإِسْلَامِيّ فِي أَمْرِيكَا‎, al-Markaz al-ʾIslāmīy Fī ʾAmrīkā) is a mosque located in Dearborn, Michigan, in the United States. The 120,000 sq. ft. facility is the largest mosque in North America and the oldest purpose-built Shia mosque in the United States, as well as the second oldest mosque in the United States after 'Asser El Jadeed which originally opened in 1924 in Michigan City, Indiana.

The Islamic Center of America is located at 19500 Ford Road in Dearborn. The institution was founded in 1949.

History

The growing number of Muslims in the Detroit area in the mid-20th century sought out a religious leader from the Middle East to serve the community. Imam Muhammad Chirri of Lebanon was invited to lead the newly-formed Islamic Center Foundation Society, which would later turn into the Islamic Center of Detroit, and later the Islamic Center of America. The center first opened its doors at a location in Detroit on September 20, 1963 with financial support from the local community who pledged their homes as collateral along with a gift from Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. The property for the construction of the Joy Road Mosque was purchased from the Ford Motor Company. Imam Hassan Al-Qazwini led the center in 1997, several years after Imam Chirri's passing, and assumed the role of religious leader for 18 years. The Islamic Center of America outgrew its original Detroit location and in 2005 moved to its present location on Ford Road in Dearborn. The Detroit mosque at the center's original site is now known as the Az-Zahra Center, where prayers services are still offered.

2007 vandalism

The mosque was vandalized in January 2007 with anti-Shia graffiti. Many in the community believed that the vandalism was the result of recurrent sectarian tensions within the American Sunni Muslim community over the Iraq War and its Shia–Sunni conflict.

2011 mosque bombing plot

On January 24, 2011, an Imperial Beach, California man named Roger Stockham was arrested and charged with terrorism after attempting to blow up the Islamic Center of America. Stockham was reported to be a convert to Sunni Islam who was targeting the Shia community, and had a history of mental illness and firearms offenses.

Terry Jones rally

On April 21, 2011, the day before the scheduled appearance of the anti-Islamic pastor Terry Jones, hundreds of people from different faiths gathered in a show of solidarity. Jews, Christians and other faith groups stood side by side with inter-locked arms in opposition to Jones' planned protest.

School and education

The mosque operates the Muslim American Youth Academy (MAYA), an Islamic private elementary and middle school.

Architecture

The Islamic Center of America is a 120,000 sq. ft. religious space. It includes a meeting hall, an industrial kitchen, a prayer room, a high ceiling and calligraphy- embraided domes, a mezzanine for women, offices, meeting rooms and a library. Educational programs are run by Imam Hassan Qazwini

See also

• Islam in Metro Detroit
• List of mosques in the United States

References

1. "Official Our Story – Islamic Center of America". Archived from the original on December 8, 2021. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
2. Curtis, Edward E. (February 2022). Muslims of the Heartland How Syrian Immigrants Made a Home in the American Midwest. NYU Press. ISBN 9781479812561.
3. "Official Our Story – Islamic Center of America". Archived from the original on December 8, 2021. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
4. ^ "Islamic Center of America (CJ) - The Pluralism Project. President and Fellows of Harvard College and Diana Eck". Archived from the original on July 20, 2017. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
5. ^ Detroit Free Press: "Longtime leader of Dearborn mosque leaves amid split" Archived 2015-06-07 at the Wayback Machine June 5, 2015 By Niraj Warikoo
6. Neil MacFarquhar, New York Times: "Iraq’s Shadow Widens Sunni-Shiite Split in U.S." Archived 2017-06-26 at the Wayback Machine New York Times, February 4, 2007.
7. "Mosque plot suspect rejects first appointed counsel, calls lawyer 'Shi'ite'". Detroit Free Press. Archived from the original on April 23, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
8. "Mosque plot suspect planted bomb in airport in '85". Washington Times. February 2, 2011. Archived from the original on June 14, 2013. Retrieved August 8, 2013.
9. Dearborn Press and Guide: "Terry Jones to be here again on Friday" Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine April 26, 2011
10. Dahoui-Charara, Mariam (April 21, 2011). "Hundreds Stand Together for Peace at Dearborn's Islamic Center". Patch Media. Dearborn, MI. Archived from the original on August 14, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
11. "Home Archived 2018-09-03 at the Wayback Machine." Muslim American Youth Academy. Retrieved on November 1, 2015. Address is "19500 Ford Road, Dearborn, MI 48128, United States"
12. "Official Our Story – Islamic Center of America". Archived from the original on December 8, 2021. Retrieved December 8, 2021.

External links

• Official website
• Official website
• "In the Way of the Prophet: Ideologies and Institutions in Dearborn, Michigan, America's Muslim Capitol", at AmericanCity.org (Retrieved February 16, 2009)

v t e Religious landmarks in metropolitan Detroit
This includes houses of worship, but does not include schools.
Religious landmarks along Woodward Ave. (address #)	St. John's Episcopal Church (2326) Woodward Avenue Baptist Church (demolished) First Unitarian Church (2870) First Presbyterian Church (2930) Temple Beth-El (3424) Cathedral Church of St. Paul (4800) Our Lady of the Rosary (5930) Metropolitan United Methodist Church (8000) First Baptist Church (8501) Woodward Avenue Presbyterian Church (8501) North Woodward Congregational Church (8715) Temple Beth-El (8801) Saint Joseph's Temple Baptist Church / King Solomon Baptist ChurchEpiscopal Church (8830) Central Woodward Christian Church (9000) Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament (9844) Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church (12375) Trinity United Methodist Church (13100) First United Methodist Church (16300) Central United Methodist Church (23 East Adams) First Congregational Church (33 Forest) Highland Park Presbyterian Church (14 Cortland) Mariners' Church (170 East Jefferson)
City (also Hamtramck)	Al-Islah Mosque (Hamtramck) Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church Cass Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church Chapel of St. Theresa-the Little Flower Christ Church Detroit Fort Street Presbyterian Church Gethsemane Evangelical Lutheran Church Historic Trinity Lutheran Church Jefferson Avenue Presbyterian Church Most Holy Redeemer Church Sacred Heart Chaldean Church Sacred Heart Major Seminary Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, Convent and Rectory St. Albertus Roman Catholic Church St. Aloysius Saint Andrew's Memorial Episcopal Church Ste. Anne de Detroit Catholic Church St. Boniface Roman Catholic Church (demolished) St. Bonaventure Monastery St. Catherine of Siena Roman Catholic Church St. Charles Borromeo Roman Catholic Church St. Florian Church (Hamtramck) St. James Episcopal (Grosse Ile) St. John's-St. Luke's Evangelical St. Josaphat's St. Joseph Catholic Church St. Mary Roman Catholic Church Saints Peter and Paul Church Saints Peter and Paul Academy St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr Roman Catholic Church St. Theresa of Avila Roman Catholic Church St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church (demolished) Second Baptist Church Sweetest Heart of Mary Roman Catholic Church Temple Baptist Church – King Solomon Baptist Church Trinity Episcopal Church Trumbull Avenue Presbyterian Church Tushiyah United Hebrew School – Scott Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church
Suburban	Christ Church Chapel (Grosse Pointe) Christ Church Cranbrook (Bloomfield Hills) Dearborn Mosque Detroit Temple, Church of the Latter Day Saints (Bloomfield Hills) Duns Scotus College (Southfield) Grosse Pointe Memorial Church (Grosse Pointe) Islamic Center of America (Dearborn) First Albanian Bektashi Tekke in America (Taylor) Kirk in the Hills (Bloomfield Hills) Mother of God Cathedral (Southfield) National Shrine of the Little Flower (Royal Oak) Nardin Park United Methodist Church (Farmington Hills) Piety Hill Historic District (Lapeer) St. Hugo in the Hills Catholic Church (Bloomfield Hills) St. Mary Church (Monroe) Saint Paul Catholic Church (Grosse Pointe Farms) Congregation Shaarey Zedek (Southfield) Temple Beth El (Bloomfield Hills)
See also: Architecture of metropolitan Detroit

v t e   Mosques in the United States
Alabama	Homewood
Alaska	Anchorage
Arizona	Phoenix Tuscon Tucson Yousef
Arkansas	Little Rock
California	Annur Ar-Ribat al-Islami Baitul Hameed Irvine King Fahad Muslim Mosque Association Northern California Orange County Riverside SALAM Islamic Center San Francisco Southern California Yuba City Women's
Connecticut	An-Noor, Bridgeport Bridgeport Connecticut Greater Hartford
Florida	Assalam Center
Georgia	Al-Farooq Al-Islam, Atlanta Al-Muminun Al-Quba Augusta
Hawaii	Honolulu
Illinois	Al-Huda Al-Sadiq Baitul Jamay Bridgeview Chicago Darussalam Greater Rockford Libertyville Maryam Villa Park
Indiana	Noor ul-Islam
Iowa	Darul Arqum Islamic Centre Mother Mosque of America
Louisiana	Omar Bin Khattab
Maryland	Baitur Rahman Baitus Samad Baltimore Baltimore Imam Mahdi Dar Al-Taqwa Diyanet Center Western Maryland
Massachusetts	Arabic Jumma Boston Boston (Wayland) Greater Lowell No. 11 Quincy Sharon Worcester
Michigan	Al-Islah Dearborn First Albanian Bektashi Tekke Grand Rapids Greater Detroit Islamic Center of America Muslim Temple No. 1 Highland Park Mosque (former)
Minnesota	Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center
Mississippi	Starkville
Missouri	Bilal Central Missouri Daar-ul-Islam St. Louis
Nevada	As-Sabur Ibrahim
New Jersey	Central New Jersey Greater Princeton Middlesex County Passaic County
New Mexico	Dar al-Islam
New York	al-Ikhlas Al-Mamoor Beit El-Maqdis Binghamton Central New York Hamza Hazrati Abu Bakr Siddique Hudson Valley Imam Khoei Long Island Malcolm Shabazz Mid-Hudson New York Park51 Powers Street
North Carolina	King Khalid Raleigh
North Dakota	Assyrian Muslim Cemetery
Ohio	Al-Islam Cincinnati Greater Dayton Greater Toledo Noor Islamic
Oklahoma	Tulsa
Oregon	As-Saber Bilal Rizwan
Pennsylvania	Al-Jamia Allentown Pittsburgh Muquil bin Haadee No. 12 North Penn Philly Shaikh M. R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen
Rhode Island	Al-Islam
Tennessee	Murfreesboro
Texas	Al-Noor Baitus Samee Denton East Plano Greater Austin Greater Houston Irving North Texas
Virginia	All Dulles Area Dar Al-Hijrah
Wisconsin	Northern Wisconsin
District of Columbia	Fazl Muhammad Washington D.C.
U.S. Territories	Guam An-Noor Puerto Rico Puerto Rico Montehiedra Vega Alta Virgin Islands Nur
Category List Islam in the United States Mosques by country

• Arab-American culture in Michigan
• Iraqi-American history
• Lebanese-American history
• Mosques in Michigan
• Mosque buildings with domes
• Buildings and structures in Dearborn, Michigan
• Mosques completed in 2005
• Islamic organizations established in 1963
• Shia Islam in the United States
• Shia mosques in the United States
• Islam in Metro Detroit