Mosque Maryam

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Mosque Maryam in Chicago, Illinois, United States, is the headquarters of the Nation of Islam. It is at 7351 South Stony Island Avenue in the South Shore neighborhood. Louis Farrakhan's headquarters are in the premises. The building was originally the Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church before it relocated to suburban Palos Hills. Elijah Muhammad purchased the building in 1972 and the mosque was then repurchased by Louis Farrakhan 16 years later, in 1988. It was named after Mary, the mother of Jesus . Farrakhan said former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi had also lent Elijah Muhammad, his predecessor as head of the Nation of Islam, $3 million to convert a Greek Orthodox Church in Chicago into the Mosque Maryam.DesignThe main prayer hall is unusual for mosque, since it was originally the church's nave that contained pews later replaced with seats, where mosques usually have only an open floor space to spread prayer rugs on which to kneel.The distinctive architectural design of Mosque Maryam further identified the spiritual significance of this house. There are in the dome, placed in four directions, the Arabic phrase whose standard interpretation in English is "There is no god but God." In the centre of the dome is written "God is the greatest." Surrounding the dome in Arabic text is the 24th Sura (chapter), verses 35-40 of the Qur'an titled Al-Nur (The Light).