The history of the Islamic Center of New England is the story of seven unskilled, uneducated Lebanese Muslim families who immigrated to the United States in the early 20th century, arriving in a foreign land, with no mosque to attend and no hope of building one. Each generation motivated for different reasons, but ultimately wanting the same thing: to express their ethnic and religious heritage, become an integral part of the religious landscape of America, educate their children, and create a space where their children could socialize and marry each other. The mosque they built in 1964 in Quincy, MA is the oldest mosque in New England. Their accomplishment at first looked like it might be just a shallow victory. The dark cloud of debt, insufficient funds to pay bills, and hardly anyone at Friday prayers threatened to undo their dream. After 30 years of trying to build a mosque, only a handful of founders were left, fighting against all odds, once again, to keep the doors open. Then, in 1965, a new Immigration Act was passed, allowing Muslims from all over the world to enter America. These Muslims quickly discovered a mosque in Quincy, the only mosque in all of New England. The founders were in awe of Allah and their good fortune. They thought they were building a mosque for their children, but in the Divine plan, they realized that they had built a mosque for every Muslim. The new immigrants rescued the Center and supported it by hard work and steady donations. The new immigrants were also highly skilled and educated, and they taught the American-born founders about true Islamic practice. In exchange, they learned from the founders how to build a mosque in America. Their ambitions knew no limits and they set out from Quincy to build more mosques to accommodate the rapidly increasing Muslim population. As a result, well over 30 Centers were built throughout New England in the last 30 years (1979-2009). Mosque communities are different from one another and people are free to choose whichever one fits them best. In an effort to find a middle way, i.e., a level of religious practice that suits his or her life style, family needs, job, culture, race, or ethnic heritage, level of education or integration, even temperament, a Muslim might prefer one mosque community at one time in life, and 30 years later, prefer an entirely different one because it addresses different need(s). Today in New England, Muslims are blessed to have a spectrum of mosque communities to choose from, and to have such a multitude of mosques to choose from makes the words of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) ring with truth: “Diversity in my community is a blessing.”
It is important for Muslims who came to this country after 1964 to become familiar with the history of the Islamic Center of New England. To have a mosque as soon as you arrive in a foreign country is a great blessing. Imagine that there was nothing here when the founders arrived in the early 1900s. And when this author was growing up, 30 years later, there still was no mosque or community. Today, the Islamic Center of New England in Sharon, MA has a beautiful large prayer room, social hall, and school, with plenty of land for further expansion. The Center has become a model of peaceful co-existence and is open for interfaith dialogue, socializing, and learning. A few years ago, there was even a marriage between two young people who grew up attending the Islamic Center of New England! And so, the dream of being a part of the religious landscape of America lives on.
