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Revision as of 01:34, 13 November 2009 editEpeefleche (talk | contribs)Pending changes reviewers150,049 edits →Background: founded by mostly college students← Previous edit Revision as of 01:54, 13 November 2009 edit undoEpeefleche (talk | contribs)Pending changes reviewers150,049 edits →Controversy: +cite referring to hijackers as "begin attending" mosqueNext edit →
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{{POV-check-section|Neutrality dispute|date=November 2009}} {{POV-check-section|Neutrality dispute|date=November 2009}}


Major ], currently the sole suspect in the November 5, 2009, ], attended the Dar al-Hijrah mosque at the same time in 2001 as ] and ] (two of the ]), during a period when ] was imam there.<ref name="Telegraph 2">]'', November 7, 2009]</ref><ref name="NYT 6">]'', November 8, 2009]</ref><ref>] 1595550038, 9781595550033, accessed November 11, 2009]</ref> The mosque issued a statement condemning the Fort Hood shootings and al-Awlaki's praise of them.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hijrah.org/|title=Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center REPUDIATES PRAISE FOR FORT HOOD KILLINGS|author=Imam Johari Abdul-Malik|publisher=Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center|date=November 9, 2009|accessdate=November 10, 2009 Major ], currently the sole suspect in the November 5, 2009, ], attended the Dar al-Hijrah mosque at the same time in 2001 as ] and ] (two of the ]), during a period when ] was imam there.<ref name="Telegraph 2">]'', November 7, 2009]</ref><ref name="NYT 6">]'', November 8, 2009]</ref><ref>] 1595550038, 9781595550033, accessed November 11, 2009]</ref><ref>] (2004), ] 0060783389, 9780060783389, accessed November 12, 2009]</ref> The mosque issued a statement condemning the Fort Hood shootings and al-Awlaki's praise of them.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hijrah.org/|title=Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center Repudiates Prise for Fort Hood Killings|author=Imam Johari Abdul-Malik|publisher=Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center|date=November 9, 2009|accessdate=November 10, 2009
}}</ref> ], who was convicted of providing material support to ] and conspiracy to assassinate President ], taught Islamic studies to young children at the Dar Al Hijrah Islamic Center and also prayed at the mosque around that time.<ref>]'', February 27, 2004, accessed November 11, 2009]</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/06/06/bush.plot.ap/index.html|date=June 6, 2008|title=Conviction upheld in Bush assassination plot }}</ref> ], who was convicted of providing material support to ] and conspiracy to assassinate President ], taught Islamic studies to young children at the Dar Al Hijrah Islamic Center and also prayed at the mosque around that time.<ref>]'', February 27, 2004, accessed November 11, 2009]</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/06/06/bush.plot.ap/index.html|date=June 6, 2008|title=Conviction upheld in Bush assassination plot
|publisher=CNN}}</ref><ref>]'', February 23, 2005, accessed November 12, 2009]</ref> |publisher=CNN}}</ref><ref>]'', February 23, 2005, accessed November 12, 2009]</ref>

Revision as of 01:54, 13 November 2009

38°51′41″N 77°08′49″W / 38.86150°N 77.14685°W / 38.86150; -77.14685

Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center
Religion
AffiliationIslam
Ecclesiastical or organizational statusMosque
Location
LocationUnited States
Architecture
TypeMosque
StyleIslamic
Completed1991
Specifications
Capacity5,000 (inside)
Minaret(s)1
Website
www.daralhijrah.net

The Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center (Template:Lang-ar, Template:Lang-en) is a masjid (mosque) and Islamic Center located in Falls Church, Virginia.

Background

Founded in 1982 by a group of mostly Arab college students, it is one of the first masjids to be established in the multi-cultural Northern Virginia area. The mosque was established in the 1983 in a house that is still on the Center's campus and currently serves as a food bank. The current facility was finished in 1991. It has since become one of the largest and most influential mosques in the United States.

The mosque is situated at the corner of Leesburg Pike (Route 7) and Row Street, around which there are a number of apartment units and single family homes in which numerous Muslim families live within close proximity to the mosque which is near Washington, DC. Numerous halal restaurants, grocery stores, and other Muslim businesses are also located close to the center.

Activities

The mosque holds prayers five times daily, and weekly Friday prayer attendance at Dar al Hijrah exceeds 3,000 people.

Activities at Dar Al Hijrah besides daily prayers include youth recreation and outdoor activities through its Youth Center (such as camping and field trips), lectures, women's classes, financial assistance, health fairs, and conferences. The center also operates an Islamic School called the Washington Islamic Academy in Northern Virginia. Dar Al-Hijrah also co-sponsors an annual civic picnic, along with other Northern Virginia organizations, in which candidates for local office meet Muslim voters.

Dar Al Hijrah is open for group tours.

Outreach

Dar Al Hijrah is active in community outreach and community service and promoting mutual understanding in Fairfax County and the Washington, DC area. As part of its outreach, Dar Al Hijrah participates in several community food drives, organizing back to school supply drives for needy children, is actively engaged in several interfaith projects in Fairfax County, and participates in civil rights work and community clean-up drives. Dar Al Hijrah has a social services department that provides food, clothing, and other household items weekly to needy families of all faiths in the local community.

During the Islamic month of Ramadan, Dar Al Hijrah serves over 800 free meals every night to everyone who wants to come eat, whether Muslim or non-Muslim. Also during Ramadan, Dar Al Hijrah sponsors several interfaith and civic iftar dinners with several different faith groups throughout the month in its mission to promote mutual understanding. Tens of thousands of dollars in zakat is also distributed by the center every Ramadan.

Leadership

Dar Al Hijrah has a committee of seven members, three of whom are elected by the mosque's membership every two years, while the other four are appointed by the board of directors. The mosque has about 250 voting member families.

Since June 1, 2005, the current Imam is Shaker Elsayed. He was born in Cairo, Egypt, in 1951 and is a dual citizen of Egypt and the US. He has an undergraduate degree in Economics and Independent Islamic Studies, from Cairo, and has done graduate work in Educational Administration and Psychology at the University of Houston in Texas. Prior to his position at the mosque, Elsayed was for five years the Secretary General of the Muslim American Society (MAS), a Washington-based national educational, social, and religious organization that promotes community development through the development of the individual and the family.

Sheikh Mohammed Adam El-Sheikh of Baltimore served as Imam between 2003 and 2005. In 2004, commenting on the beheadings of two American hostages-Nick Berg and Daniel Pearl-he said "beheadings are not mentioned in the Koran at all. According to Islamic penal law, killers will be sentenced to death, but the means of execution are not mentioned. Whoever did this, we don't condone this. They are not following Islam. They are following their own whims."

Anwar al-Awlaki, a former imam at the mosque who was employed there between January 2001 and April 2002, is now wanted in Yemen on suspicion of possible al-Qaeda links.

Controversy

The neutrality of this article is disputed. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until conditions to do so are met. (November 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Major Nidal Malik Hasan, currently the sole suspect in the November 5, 2009, Fort Hood shootings, attended the Dar al-Hijrah mosque at the same time in 2001 as Nawaf al-Hazmi and Hani Hanjour (two of the September 11 hijackers), during a period when Anwar al-Awlaki was imam there. The mosque issued a statement condemning the Fort Hood shootings and al-Awlaki's praise of them. Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, who was convicted of providing material support to al Qaeda and conspiracy to assassinate President George W. Bush, taught Islamic studies to young children at the Dar Al Hijrah Islamic Center and also prayed at the mosque around that time.

Jeffrey Goldberg, in his 2008 book, characterizes Dar al-Hijrah as an openly political mosque that has conducted militant Friday sermons, especially prior to the September 11 attacks. The Washington Post reported that its leaders have strongly criticized U.S. law enforcement actions against Muslims and U.S. policies in the Middle East. The Washington Post also reported that the mosque is closely affiliated with the Muslim American Society, which has been linked to the Muslim Brotherhood.

See also

Imam Johari Abdul-Malik, Director of Outreach at the Dar Al Hijrah Islamic Center

Notes

  1. Stewart, Nikita, "Muslims Find Room to Grow in D.C.'s Outer Suburbs," The Washington Post, August 1, 2005, accessed November 12, 2009
  2. The Congregation: About Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center (pbs.org) at www.pbs.org
  3. Facing New Realities as Islamic Americans (washingtonpost.com) at www.washingtonpost.com
  4. [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2002/05/05/MN211803.DTL Masters, Brook, "Sept. 11 witness languishes in jail Volunteering information on hijackers led to lengthy incarceration," The Washington Post, May 5, 2002, accessed November 12, 2009]
  5. Muslim Voters Meet Candidates, Officials at Picnic (washingtonpost.com) at www.washingtonpost.com
  6. Va. Mosque Reaches Out, Joining Immigrant Fabric (washingtonpost.com) at www.washingtonpost.com
  7. 10 Cooks, 21,000 Dinners, 30 Nights at www.muslimlinkpaper.com
  8. Caryle Murphy (2004-09-12). "Facing New Realities as Islamic Americans". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
  9. "Guest CV, Shaker Elsayed". IslamOnline.net. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
  10. "Elsayed, Shaker". The American Muslim.org. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
  11. Peronet Despeignes (2004-06-20). "Koran doesn't call for beheadings, Islamic cleric says". USA Today. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
  12. Imam Johari Abdul-Malik (November 9, 2009). "Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center REPUDIATES PRAISE FOR FORT HOOD KILLINGS". Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center. Retrieved November 10, 2009.
  13. "US imam wanted in Yemen over al-Qaida suspicions". Associated Press. November 10, 2009.
  14. Fort Hood shooting: Texas army killer linked to September 11 terrorists, The Telegraph, November 7, 2009
  15. Alleged Shooter Tied to Mosque of 9/11 Hijackers, The New York Times, November 8, 2009
  16. Sperry, Paul E., Infiltration: how Muslim spies and subversives have penetrated Washington, Chapter 12: "The 9/11 Mosque: Dar al-Hijrah," p. 110, Thomas Nelson Inc (2005), ISBN 1595550038, 9781595550033, accessed November 11, 2009
  17. Thompson, Paul, The terror timeline: year by year, day by day, minute by minute : a comprehensive chronicle of the road to 9/11--- and America's response, p. 172, Harper Collins (2004), ISBN 0060783389, 9780060783389, accessed November 12, 2009
  18. Imam Johari Abdul-Malik (November 9, 2009). "Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center Repudiates Prise for Fort Hood Killings". Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center. Retrieved November 10, 2009.
  19. Dao, James, and Lichtblau, Eric, "Case Adds to Outrage for Muslims in Northern Virginia," The New York Times, February 27, 2004, accessed November 11, 2009
  20. "Conviction upheld in Bush assassination plot". CNN. June 6, 2008.
  21. Lichtblau, Eric, "American Accused in a Plot to Assassinate Bush," The New York Times, February 23, 2005, accessed November 12, 2009
  22. Goldberg, Jeffrey, Prisoners: A Story of Friendship and Terror, pp. 286-87, Random House, Inc. (2008), ISBN 0375726705, 9780375726705, accessed November 11, 2009
  23. Murphy, Caryle, "Facing New Realities as Islamic Americans," The Washington Post, September 12, 2004, accessed November 11, 2009
  24. Sheridan, Mary Beth, "Leader Named at Mosque; Falls Church Site Selects Activist," The Washington Post, June 11, 2005, accessed November 12, 2009

External links

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