Islamic Center of Bloomington

About

For all muslims - a place of shelter, sharing, caring and love.

Story

The Islamic Center at 1925 East Atwater, on the corner of the Indiana University campus is considered one of the most beautiful buildings in Bloomington, the woodland of the Hoosier State. The dream of hundreds of Muslims to have a mosque took more than a decade of hard work to come to light. For a few years, the MSA used the International Center and other places to perform Friday prayers. It proved very inconvenient for Muslims. In December 1975, the MSA bought a house on East 8th Street from a local church and converted it into an Islamic center. The two prayer halls, library and basement were used to their maximum but not without problems. Though the center was in a prime location, it was hard to maintain and had only 8 parking spaces for almost 500 students. In June 1984, the MSA made a historic decision when it bought property for the purpose of building a mosque. The money was provided by Dr. Abdullah Naseef, the secretary general of the Muslim World league.

A committee for planning and fund-raising was formed. The vision of early members to build a high-tech spacious Islamic center with classrooms was realized in a design produced by an architectural firm. Although the community donated generously and MSAís alumni sent large donations from overseas, it was difficult for many students to finance the new project. The money was therefore invested with the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT) until 1992, when a decision was made to modify the old plan and build a smaller center that was within the financial ability of the organization. In 1989, the lowest bid for the old plan was at $850,000. Construction of the new center, which consists of two prayer halls, a library and an office, could not be financially achieved without selling the old center. After spending almost half a million dollars, the center, or the house of God according to the Qur'an, was opened for congregation the first Friday of August 1993.

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