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Significance of Mosque #12 in the African-American community 

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Significance of Mosque #12 in the African-American community 

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Muhammad’s Mosque of Islam #12 located at 4218-20 Lancaster Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, from l957 to l963, was the epicenter of debate and discussion about the future of African Americans in the nation. Serving as the site of the first temple of the Nation of Islam in the Commonwealth…

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The minty-green meeting hall at 1319-21 West Susquehanna Avenue in North Philadelphia is a quiet cultural landmark with a long track record of community and spiritual use. Built 114 years ago for a trade school, the building came to prominence in the early 1960s when it was leased by the Nation of Islam and placed under the direction of Malcolm X. The former Students' Chapter Hall, now home to Masjid Makkah, a neighborhood mosque of traditional Islamic faith, is a vivid of example of a building related to Philadelphia black history that requires the attention of preservationists.

The Students' Chapter Hall, a trade school founded by veteran educator Bertha A. Winkler, was built in 1902 after operating for a few decades out of a row house at 2334 North 6th Street. Winkler commissioned Philadelphia church and school architect Jacob Naschold to design the new school at the corner of Park and Susquehanna Avenues.

The school was the first building to occupy this large corner property, having only been cleared several years earlier, after an old diagonal highway called Turner's Turnpike was eliminated and the roadway reconfigured. Students' Chapter offered day and evening courses in mechanical drawing, bookkeeping, mathematics, shorthand, penmanship, business writing, dressmaking, and millinery. Courses in dancing and piano were added a few years later. The Winkler family also lived there.

In 1913, Students' Chapter school went out of business, though the name, Students' Chapter Hall, stayed with the building well into the middle of the 20th century. The next owner, Carl Tshopp, took up residence there while leasing out the building as an event space and meeting hall to a large variety of businesses and organizations.

In 1931, Tschopp sold the building to Algernon Francis Thompson, who moved his Thirty Day Business College there. This school was similar to the Students' Chapter, but was primarily targeted at women. Course offerings included bookkeeping, preparation and completion of business-related paperwork, payroll accounting, and office routine. By the 1940s, the school came to be known as Thompson's Business School, though it isn't related to the several schools around the country with the same name. The business school occupied the building until 1962.

Students' Chapter Hall was purchased by nearby Our Lady of Mercy Church at 2131-59 North Broad Street. In 1962, the church leased out the building to the Nation of Islam.

Several years earlier, Malcolm X came to Philadelphia and established Temple #12 (sometimes called Muhammad's Mosque #12) at 4218 Lancaster Avenue. The Nation of Islam moved the mosque to the old Students' Chapter Hall in 1962. More NOI temples were established over the years in North and West Philadelphia. This was not the first time the old technical school would be used for religious services. It had been the temporarily home to Congregation Adath Jeshurun in 1912 and the First Association of Spiritualists in 1932.

In addition to being a mosque, Temple #12 established a private college, the Mohammed University of Islam #12.

In the early 1970s, the old technical school also became the headquarters of the city's Black Mafia, which used Mosque #12 as a front. The Black Mafia controlled large areas of the city and through its network of criminals pursued narcotics sales, contract murders, armed robberies, fraudulent credit and check schemes, loan sharking, welfare fraud, shoplifting, prostitution, and extortion.

An investigative report by the FBI alleged that Black Mafia members hid behind Islam "as an umbrella to protect themselves from the law and the public." The report also stated that the Muhammad's Mosque #12 was known locally as the "gangster mosque." Leader of the Nation of Islam itself did not approve of the Black Mafia's presence in the mosque and, it has been said, often threatened to send hitmen to remove them.

In 1974, the Nation of Islam acquired the property from Our Lady of Mercy. The Black Mafia lost much of its influence by the middle of the 1970s, and Temple #12 continued mosque-related activities in the old Students' Chapter Hall until selling the building to the current owners, Hyderabad House Inc., for $33,000 in 1985. Temple #12 is currently located at 2508 North Broad Street. Hyderabad House Inc. is a non-profit organization with a mission to engage Muslims with education and community-related pursuits. The old technical school is now home to Masjid Makkah, a neighborhood mosque with 350 weekly congregants. The mosque also serves as a community center for the neighborhood and offers classes in Islamic studies.

About the Author

GroJ Lart Dennis Carlisle (AKA GroJLart) is a former Hidden City contributor and the anonymous foulmouthed blogger of Philaphilia, where he critiques Philadelphia architecture, history, and design. He resides in Washington Square West. Carlisle has contributed to Naked Philly, the Philadelphia City Paper's Naked City Blog, and Philadelphia Magazine's Property Blog. He is currently an employee of developer Ori Feibush, owner of OCF Realty.

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Peeling Back The Layers On Malcolm X's Mosque #12

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The minty-green meeting hall at 1319-21 West Susquehanna Avenue in North Philadelphia is a quiet cultural landmark with a long track record of community and spiritual use. Built 114 years ago for a trade school, the building came to prominence in the early 1960s when it was leased by the Nation of Islam and placed under the direction of Malcolm X.

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By Samara Ahmed
Drive down West Susquehanna Avenue in North Philadelphia and you will see stores and restaurants with counters protected by thick walls of bulletproof plexiglass, neglected lots, and lines of rowhouses with painted white columns. Go a little further, and you will come across, a tall, mint-green building that sticks out in this neighborhood.

This is the home of Masjid Makkah, an anchor for North Philadelphia Muslims since 1962.

The Masjid is one of the oldest and biggest orthodox mosques in the area, offering 5 daily prayers, and weekend classes on Islamic studies. It has the capacity to hold over 700 people and serves as a religious and social center in the region, drawing around 350 people each week during Salaat-ul-Jumma, or Friday prayer.

Sister Ayesha Begum, an unassuming woman with light skin and a no-nonsense attitude, established the Hyderabad House Inc., a non-profit organization that, in its mission statement, describes itself like "other Muslim organizations involved in community work, with greater emphasis in education and establishing prayers among the communities."

The Hyderabad House Inc. operates the masjid, and also publishes a newspaper called the Hyderabad Times, as well as an International Almanac. Sister Begum is best known for publishing a facsimile reproduction of the 'Uthmna Dzu-Nurain,' from the manuscript of Caliph Sayidina, containing Surah-Yasin, one of the most frequently read chapters of the Qur'an.

Today, she is sitting in the lobby, reading from a book when an African-American man in a dirty yellow windbreaker and light blue jeans enters the masjid, slamming the door behind him.

"I don't know where the Imam is, this the first time I've been here, but the brother gave me $2.00 and fifty cent. I'm trying to get back over Jersey," he announces, to no one in particular.

Sister Begum stands up. "Okay, I'll give you a few dollars" she tells him, whispering something to her friend in Urdu.

"I need like 4 to 5 dollars altogether," he tells her "the brothers out there told me to come over here."

"They could have given you something" she says disapprovingly.

"They gave me $2.00," he says. "I need like $4.50 to get the bus back over to Jersey."

She pulls out a key from her pocket, and goes into an office. When she comes out, she has few dollars with her, and hands them over. The man takes the money, mumbles his thanks and leaves. Begum then sits back down again.

"There's so much going on with Muslims after 9/11. We don't want to put my masjid in jeopardy," she says "you have to be careful."

Aarif Subzpush, 21, is a chemistry major at Temple University from Allentown who lives in a room above the masjid. He's noticed that the majority of people who attend the masjid are middle aged, African-Americans. A lot of them are former Nation of Islam members who have now become orthodox Muslims.

"There's a big African-American Muslim community in Philadelphia. There are just so many Muslims that becoming Muslim is kind of the cool thing to do... having a beard and walking down the street is in fashion."

Religious institutions have always played a huge role in African-American life. Islam in particular seems to provide not only the material but the training ground for young people who face racial discrimination, giving them a support system and keeping them out of trouble, a task that is not easy in neighborhoods that are plagued with poverty and violence.

In Philadelphia, mosques such as the Makkah Masjid, as well as churches and other houses of worship, serve as important safety nets in communities abandoned by the state. These centers work to bring people together and help those who need it the most.

Compared with other racial and ethnic groups, African-Americans are among the most likely to report a formal religious affiliation, with 87% describing themselves as belonging to one religious group or another, according to the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, conducted in 2007 by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life. Among the public overall, 83% are affiliated with a religion.

One of the other reasons for this is that religious theologies protect and insulate against racism and discrimination.

"Islam is like a big pot. Altogether we make the Muslim community, and if you are around really good Muslims who observe duties and rights, then all of the issues of race vanish," said Dr. Eyas Amr, the Imam at Makkah Masjid.

"When we all stand for salah, you put your heard on the foot of the person who's in front of you regardless of who he is. The fact that we do this daily makes it not an abstract practice limited to the masjid. You really feel part of a bigger community, a part of it with its problems and struggles," said Dr. Amr.

Subzpush, whose parents are from India, lived off campus his freshman and sophomore year. He moved into the mosque this year due to its location, which is only a few blocks away from Temple. "Of course it's also awesome to live in the masjid and be in that community. It's actually beautiful how you have people from all kinds of ethnic backgrounds come together. We're just brothers in Islam," he adds, "Who cares if you're from a different background? It just adds more spice to the pie."

Dr. Amr, who heads the Masjid, is a Palestinian. When he came to America in 2000 to work on his Ph.D. in physics at Temple University, the masjid was the first place he stepped foot in. Due to his religious training, he was able to step in and lead the Friday prayers whenever someone was absent.

Once a self-described "back-up Imam," he now leads Friday prayers at least once a month, if not more, and reads the taraweeh prayers, in which long portions of the Qur'an are recited, during Ramadan every year.

Dr. Amr, like everyone at the masjid, volunteers his services. The masjid has a modest budget and survives on minimal donations, in area that is mostly poor.

"For me it doesn't really cost anything to do this. I live next door so it's convenient, as is I have to come to the masjid to pray," he said.

. In addition to leading the salah, he also helps mediate and provide support for families trying to raise children, a challenge that has been especially difficult for Muslims in America who are struggling to keep their children away from drugs, alcohol, and other temptations.

"Particularly youth of this neighborhood, I have known Muslims and non-Muslims have already been in jail. You try to help the mothers, even the grandmothers, even the non-Muslims too, help them to deal with what kids are putting them through, said Dr. Amr.

"It's torture for the parents. You've raised and worked hard all these years and all of a sudden either he's locked up or dead," he added.

Dr. Amr often mediates between parents and their children, and speaks to them one on one. But in areas where gangs are glorified and violence is the norm, his message is not always well-received.

"Sometimes you feel it's a brush-off response. They're nice enough not to completely ask 'Who are you to talk to me?' but at least they listen to me. But I don't know what they do behind closed doors."

However, Dr. Amr continues to reach out with examples. The masjid also holds talks for its younger members whenever an arrest or death occurs. "We try to bring it up from the point of what do you learn from this. You don't want to be in the same situation."

One member, whose son had been sneaking out, took his son to the police station and asked the officers to give him a tour.

Although these measures might seem harsh, they're often effective in driving the point home.

"It's difficult," said Dr. Amr. "You cannot be all that tough and you cannot be all that lenient. You have to balance the way you deal with things and you have to respect the new identity, the new individualism that's coming into your house, whether it's a man or a woman"

He emphasizes engaging with children when they're still young. "If the head of the household isn't really paying attention to what their kids are doing then, the next thing they discover is why did this happen? Because they haven't paid attention. Children are like sponges. Take advantage of that time, you can fill them with good things."

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By Samara Ahmed Drive down West Susquehanna Avenue in North Philadelphia and you will see stores and restaurants with counters protected by thick walls of bulletproof plexiglass, neglected lots, and lines of rowhouses with painted white columns. Go a little further, and you will come across, a tall, mint-green building that sticks out in this neighborhood.

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Germantown Masjid is a community that adheres to the Quran and the authentic Sunnah with the understanding of the Salaf [the first three generations of Muslims]

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Association of Islamic Charitable Projects in North America

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Association of Islamic Charitable Projects in North America

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Association of Islamic Charitable Projects in North America (AICP)

4431 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA

About the Mosque

The AICP is an organization objectively teaching the authentic knowledge of the Religion as taught by the Prophet, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, and preserved and passed on through the trustworthy followers of each era. The AICP encourages Muslims to better themselves through education and academic excellence, as well as expanding employment opportunities for themselves and other Muslims.

Association of Islamic Charitable Projects in North America (AICP)

4431 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA

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Association of Islamic Charitable Projects in North America (AICP), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Prayers Connect -

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Prayers Connect - Mosques, latest iqamah/jama’ah (congregation) timings in your nearby mosques and more…

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Masjid Al-Jamia is a Sunni mosque in West Philadelphia. It was founded in 1988 by members of the Muslim Students Association at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn MSA). Eight years later, the mosque became independent from the Penn MSA and, around 2009, acquired ownership of the building. Located at 4228 Walnut Street, in a historic building formerly occupied by the Commodore Theatre, the mosque currently serves a large and diverse Muslim population in the neighborhood. The mosque's name itself signals its importance to the community, as the Arabic etymology suggests. In Arabic, Masjid Al-Jamia means "the congregational mosque", typically where Muslims meet for Friday prayers.

The Masjid Al-Jamia offers religious services for the five daily prayers common to Muslims, and for the Friday congregational prayer. It also sponsors regular lectures, an annual Ramadan program associated with the month of fasting, and prayers for the 'Eid holidays. The mosque also provides an Islamic School for children. As of 2019, the imam was Yahaya A Adam.

As a non-profit organization, Masjid Al-Jamia is independently administered. According to City of Philadelphia property records, the owner of the mosque building, which is located at 4228 Walnut Street and which covers 12,541 square feet, is the North American Islamic Trust, Inc. This organization, NAIT, identifies the building as an Islamic charitable endowment, or waqf. Founded in 1973 by the national Muslim Students Association - an umbrella organization that helps to coordinate Muslim student activities on college and university campuses throughout the United States - NAIT declared on its website in 2019 that it was holding titles to mosques as waqfs in over forty U.S. states, with the goal of ensuring their long-term stability.

Masjid Al-Jamia occupies the site of a former movie theater, the Commodore Theatre, which opened in 1928 and originally held 1,105 seats. The building has a distinctive architectural style. Designed by the Ballinger Company, in association with the architects Hoffman & Henon, the edifice reflected the Spanish Revival or Moorish architectural style, which was popular in the 1920s. After its closure in the late 1950s, the building briefly held a live theater. As indicated in a photograph from the Urban Archives of Temple University Libraries, the building housed a church called the "Miracle Revival Tabernacle" in 1964.

Historically the Masjid Al-Jamia has had a close relationship with sections of the Muslim community at the University of Pennsylvania, whose campus is located in West Philadelphia. As part of a community history project aided by Scribe Video Center, interviewees recalled many occasions when members of the Masjid Al-Jamia community gathered with Penn Muslim students for Islamic study circles, social events, Friday prayers and holiday celebrations.

In particular, the mosque has had relations with the Penn Muslim Students Association ("Penn MSA"), which is the University of Pennsylvania chapter of the nationwide organization, MSA National. MSA National was founded in 1963 to facilitate Muslim life among students in diverse campus settings. Today, the MSA chapters - Penn's included - work under the umbrella of the Islamic Society of North America, which declares its mission to "foster the development of the Muslim community, interfaith relations, civic engagement, and better understandings of Islam."

Masjid Al-Jamia stands at the heart of what has become "the city's biggest and most diverse Muslim community", including members who have immigrated from many countries including Bangladesh, Mali, and Egypt. An article published in 2011 in The Philadelphia Inquirer featured the mosque and described members like Mohammed Mahsin Khan, a 39-year-old Bangladeshi, who explained that prior to its establishment, he drove to New Jersey or to Northeast Philadelphia to pray.

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Masjid Al-Jamia is a Sunni mosque in West Philadelphia. It was founded in 1988 by members of the Muslim Students Association at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn MSA). Eight years later, the mosque became independent from the Penn MSA and, around 2009, acquired ownership of the building.

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In West Philadelphia, at the intersection of Walnut and 43 rd Streets, stands a magnificent mosque: the Masjid Al-Jamia. Red bricked and massive, this mosque is one of the oldest and best-known places of worship in Philadelphia. Despite the mosque's fame, few know of the unique history of its establishment. Masjid Al-Jamia was founded in 1988 by members of the University of Pennsylvania's Muslim Students Association (MSA), which still technically owned it until 2009. Indeed, given Penn's image today as a secular institution, the relationship between Masjid Al-Jamia and the University of Pennsylvania is striking. This essay seeks to explain the history of this mosque and to consider how its relationship with the Penn MSA has evolved considerably during the past generation.

First, it is important to note that Masjid Al-Jamia today functions as a pillar of the West Philadelphia Muslim community. Indeed, the name of the mosque itself, with "Masjid Al-Jamia," meaning "The Congregational Mosque" in Arabic, is a title usually given to the largest mosque in a given area, to describe a place where Muslim gather en masse for regular worship and especially for the Friday sermon and prayer service. At the time of its founding, Jamia (as its members often call it for short) was indeed the largest mosque in West Philadelphia, and among only a handful that held daily prayer services[1]. This is very significant as devout Muslims pray five times a day, and if possible, they do so at a mosque. In the past twenty-five years, the number of Philadelphia mosques holding daily prayer service has grown to sixty as a result of the rapid growth of local Muslim communities, and indeed, the numbers and sizes of mosques are still expanding here. Nonetheless, Jamia is one of the few mosques that can boast hosting around 700 to 1000 individuals for the weekly Friday sermon required for most Muslim men, simply referred to using the Arabic word for Friday: " Jum'ah"[2]. Jamia's massive following pulls individuals from as far as twenty blocks away despite the current plethora of mosques in Philadelphia[3]. These individuals are largely immigrants of the first or, at most, second generation. The majority are of African descent, although there are many with South Asian and North African Arab roots[4]. A large portion of the community consists of youth or working class individuals. At least half speak Arabic, a trait which is reflected in how the Imam rarely speaks English, and instead opts to give his sermons in Arabic with an English translator[5].

Given the Masjid Al-Jamia's centrality to the West Philadelphia Muslim community, and especially to Arabic-speaking immigrants, few would surmise that a student organization at the University of Pennsylvania founded this place of worship. But despite Penn's official identification today as a non-sectarian university, the school has had a history steeped in religious traditions going back to its origins in 1740. Indeed, for several years during the late eighteenth century, Penn's Board of Trustees consisted entirely of Anglican Christian men of wealth and repute[6]. Furthermore, one of the leading figures of the evangelical Protestant Christian movement known as the "Great Awakening", George Whitefield (1714-1770), was a key player in the founding of the University of Pennsylvania. Many of the earliest students to seek education at Penn came expecting to enhance their knowledge of the Bible and Christian traditions[7].

In the late twentieth century, however, Penn's student population was increasingly diverse and included Muslims as well. By 1984, Penn students (who had founded the campus chapter of the MSA in 1963) were using Houston Hall for religious gatherings and prayers on campus[8]. Many Muslims from across Philadelphia came to attend these events, alongside the Penn Muslim students, who included graduate students studying religious and Islamic subjects. As more students and non-students took part in the campus congregations at Houston Hall, the MSA realized the Muslim community needed more space[9]. The organization hoped to found a mosque, then, as a community center for both the MSA students as well as for the greater Philadelphia Muslim public[10]. Through this action the MSA students also hoped to conduct what is known in Arabic as Sadaqah Jarriyah, or "ceaseless charity," an action that, in the Islamic tradition, continues to accumulate good deeds for the actor even after his or her death with the establishment of a benevolent institution qualifying as such action. Since Muslims believe that the comparison of one's good and bad deeds will determine whether one will be punished or rewarded after death, Sadaqah Jarriyah is one of the best deeds a person can undertake [11].

Founding the mosque took four years (1984-1988) from the inception of the idea to its realization. The Executive Board of the MSA led the efforts for the "Masjid Project[12]." They spent the first one to two years looking at different sites in the area surrounding Penn's campus and estimating their suitability for worship[13]. The organization eventually settled on the Commodore Theatre, an old movie theatre and two-roomed space. They spent the next two to three years raising capital, establishing basic bylaws and meeting with the greater Philadelphia Muslim community on the progress of the mosque project[14]. The MSA raised money through several small scale fundraisers, such as bake sales and ticketed dinners, over the course of the next few years. Together the MSA students managed to raise over $100,000 for the purchase of the theatre. The organization placed the building into the custody of the North American Islamic Trust, an association that "serves as a trustee to Islamic institutions across the country"[15]. Upon acquiring the building, the MSA gave out an announcement that Jum'ah services would be held at the former theatre, and people flocked to attend. The students then helped with running the mosque and setting up elections for the " Shura Council", or consultative council, for administering the mosque. This council was created so that West Philadelphia Muslims could be elected to run the mosque, while the MSA President acted as a liaison between the two organizations. At its core, Jamia was meant to be an institution separate from the MSA[16]. In the United States, argued former head of the Philadelphia Council of Mosques Aqil Abdus Sabur, there has never been before such a project where a Muslim Students Association founded a mosque for a Muslim community and then handed over the major leadership to that community.

Though Masjid Al-Jamia was mainly led by members from the Philadelphia Muslim community, the MSA initially went further than most other student-run religious organizations by stimulating activities within the community and aiding it along the way. From clearing out the rows of chairs in the old theatre's screening room to giving the sermon preceding the Friday prayer and the prayer afterward, the MSA students were a constant help during the first decade of the mosque[17]. By giving the Friday sermons, in particular, they cemented themselves within the larger Muslim community and contributed heavily to the religious dialogue in West Philadelphia. Beyond their notable presence in Friday and other prayer services across the week, the MSA students also formed an SAT tutoring program for the youth, spearheaded community service efforts such as tree-planting, and distributed among the poor the "Zakat Al-Fitr," which is a charity donation that observant Muslims give as a religious duty to mark Eid Al-Fitr, or the "Festival of Breaking the Fast[18]."

In the following years, the relationship between Masjid Al-Jamia and the Muslim Students Association began to wane. There was a gradual decline in the interaction between the groups for a number of reasons. Over time, the constituency of the MSA began to change as undergraduate students surpassed graduate students in number. This younger demographic found it more difficult to relate to the Jamia community, whose members tended to be older[19]. Furthermore, in the past most Muslims students at Penn had some experience studying Islam and Muslims, and came to the University to increase their knowledge in that area. Thus, these past students had a greater ability to contribute to the Al-Jamia community with their deep knowledge. This knowledge was not strictly religious in nature. Often these students would hold seminars on Islamic history, art and even the architecture of Islamic civilizations alongside theological and Quranic discussions[20].

Aqil Abdus Sabur, a Penn alumnus and former head of the Philadelphia Council of Mosques, suggested that the negative image of Islam that spread in the American mass media following the attacks of September 11 th, 2001 also widened the rift between the two communities. Many students had parents who were fearful of any outward portrayals of religiosity. These students were told not to "appear too religious" and to "focus exclusively" on their course of study, which was often encouraged to be a subject unrelated to Islam[21].

By about 2005, the relationship between the Muslims at Penn and Masjid Al-Jamia had declined significantly relative to the 1990s. MSA members still conducted SAT tutoring for youth at the mosque, and even worked to help less fortunate children by holding gift drives during Muslim holidays. But the students never gave Friday sermons anymore, and, apart from a handful, they were rarely seen among worshippers at the daily prayer services[22]. Suddenly the difference of two or three blocks seemed like a significant distance. The Penn MSA leadership noticed this changed relationship, and around 2009 formally signed over the ownership of the mosque to Masjid Al-Jamia's Shura Council[23]. Despite this increased separation, the two Muslim communities still came together each year during Ramadan, a month of the Islamic lunar calendar when Muslims fast during the daylight hours.

The holy month of Ramadan has often pushed the Muslim communities at Penn and Al-Jamia much closer together. During the month of Ramadan, Muslims have the opportunity to conduct nightly " Taraweeh" prayers to take advantage of the fact that the value of good deeds in the month are multiplied many times over. Taraweeh literally means to rest, and is a name given to the prayer to denote the customary rest between every four " rakats" or units of prayer. These Taraweeh prayers, though not mandatory, have a plethora of benefits beyond normal prayers and thus are heavily attended by even Muslims who do not normally pray[24]. These prayers go on until very late into the night and are only valid if prayed in a congregation with other Muslims. As a result these prayers are conducted exclusively in large religious spaces with full control of their hours of operation, namely mosques. Thus, Muslims who wanted to participate in such prayers would travel nightly to Jamia. On Penn's campus alone, as many as 300 Muslim students and professors crossed the campus every day to attend the prayers at the mosque[25]. The increased value of good deeds also had more students attend the daily prayers there. Additionally, the collective act of fasting, a requirement of all observant Muslims during the daylight hours of the Ramadan month, further increased the sense of concord between the Muslim community on and off of the university's campus. Since providing food for others to break their fast is a highly valued good deed, members of both organizations would hold "breaking of the fast dinners," or iftars, where Muslims from different communities would break their fast together[26]. Countless Muslims came together in the 30 days of that holy month who, if not for the catalyst of Ramadan, were unlikely to have otherwise met[27]. This changed in 2011 however. Since the Islamic lunar calendar contains no leap year adjustments and is shorter than the solar calendar by ten to eleven days, Ramadan migrates throughout the solar year. The year 2011 was the first time, since the founding of Jamia, that Ramadan and the Penn academic year did not overlap.

Ramadan's eventual movement out of the University academic calendar cut off a crucial link between Masjid Al-Jamia and the Penn MSA. Since 2011, the relationship has dwindled. Without Ramadan to bring people together, many Muslim freshmen failed to attend a prayer at Jamia until later in their first year. The most an average observant Penn MSA student is likely to attend prayer at Jamia is perhaps three times a month. Many see the distance as too far, especially given the prayer services regularly held in religious spaces on campus[28]. Even the long-lived SAT tutoring run by the Penn MSA in service of Jamia's youth has dissipated. Indeed, the 2011-2012 academic year was the last year of the program. With its end, the formal relationship between Masjid Al-Jamia and the Penn MSA has all but ceased. The strongest contact they now have is the occasional attendance of community members at one another's Friday services. Still, this may yet change. The Penn MSA leadership hopes to revive the SAT program and create a general mentorship program between Penn students and children in West Philadelphia beyond tutoring. They would like to aid these children in all aspects of their education using the resources available to them as Penn students, and hopefully reconnect with a community with whom their predecessors in the MSA once worshipped[29].

Today, it is clear to those who worship there that the Masjid has created a lasting and significant change to the dynamics of West Philadelphia. It has become a lively center for Islamic and Arabic studies and is always teeming with religious activities, from free dinners during Ramadan to Quranic study circles [30]. Furthermore, Al Jamia has attracted a vibrant community of Muslim residents and Muslim businesses in the area immediately around it, and according to Aqil Abdus Sabur has contributed to decreasing rates of crime in the region. In short, the Penn MSA has created a self-sufficient institution of lasting change in the West Philadelphia area [31]. In the words of Aqil Abdus Sabur, "This is a significant legacy of the Penn MSA, within the Islamic concept of ' sadaqah jariyyah, ' or continuous charity."

In sum, the historical relationship between the University of Pennsylvania and Masjid Al-Jamia is important. To be sure, the relationship has changed significantly since the mosque's founding by the Penn Muslim Student's Association in 1988. Today the mosque attracts a diverse West Philadelphia population, with many of its members being from African American, North African, Middle Eastern and South Asian communities. Perhaps in the future this connection will grow strong once again. For the time being, merely remembering this shared history can offer a foundation for cooperation between the mosque and the Penn Muslim community in the future.
Bibliography
Aqil Abdus Sabur interviewed by Majid Mubeen, via email. 25 November 2014. Masjid Al-Jamia Project.

Cheyney, Edward Potts. History of the University of Pennsylvania, 1740-1940, Philadelphia:

University of Pennsylvania Press, 1940.

Jesse Rogers. "A Crescent, and an Arch." The Daily Pennsylvanian, March 27, 2007. Accessed

November 15, 2014. http://www.thedp.com/article/2007/03/a_crescent_and_an_arch

Kim, Heon C., and Edward E. Curtis IV. "Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Muslim Americans." In Edward E. Curtis, IV, ed., Encyclopedia of Muslim-American History. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2010. American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp ItemID=WE52&iPin=EMAH0219&SingleRecord=True (accessed November , 24 2014).

Menvekeh Daramay Interview by Majid Mubeen. 30 November, 2014, via telephone. Masjid Al-Jamia Project.

Muslim Voices of Philadelphia. DVD. Directed by Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship and Mosque, Lajna Ima'illah (the women's auxiliary of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community), Masjid Freehaven, Masjid Muhammad, Masjidullah Masjid, Moorish Science Temple of America, Inc., Temple #11, Muslim Student Association at the University of Pennsylvania, QAAMS (Qu'aid AmeerAbdul-Majeed Staten Hajj Foundation), and The New Africa Center (Islamic Cultural Preservation and Information Council, ICPIC). 2014; Philadelphia, PA: Scribe Video Center, 2014.

[1] Aqil Abdus Sabur, interview by Majid Mubeen, 25 November 2014, Masjid Al-Jamia Project, Email Message, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

[2] Sabur, interview by Majid Mubeen, 25 November 2014

[3] Jesse Rogers. "A Crescent, and an Arch." The Daily Pennsylvanian, March 27, 2007. Accessed November 15, 2014. http://www.thedp.com/article/2007/03/a_crescent_and_an_arch

[4] Menevekeh Daramay, interview by Majid Mubeen, 30 November 2014, Masjid Al-Jamia Project, Phone Conversation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

[5] Daramay, interview by Majid Mubeen, 30 November 2014

[6] Edward Potts Cheyney, History of the University of Pennsylvania, 1740-1940, (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1940)

[7] Cheyney, History of the University of Pennsylvania, 1740-1940,

[9] Sabur, interview by Majid Mubeen, 25 November 2014

[10] Sabur, interview by Majid Mubeen, 25 November 2014

[11] Sabur, interview by Majid Mubeen, 25 November 2014

[12] Muslim Voices of Philadelphia, dir. By Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship and Mosque et all (2014; Scribe Video Center, 2014 dvd)

[13] Sabur, interview by Majid Mubeen, 25 November 2014

[14] Sabur, interview by Majid Mubeen, 25 November 2014

[15] Sabur, interview by Majid Mubeen, 25 November 2014

[16] Daramay, interview by Majid Mubeen, 30 November 2014

[18] Sabur, interview by Majid Mubeen, 25 November 2014

[19] Sabur, interview by Majid Mubeen, 25 November 2014

[21] Sabur, interview by Majid Mubeen, 25 November 2014

[23] Daramay, interview by Majid Mubeen, 30 November 2014

[25] Rogers, "A Crescent, and an Arch."

[26] Daramay, interview by Majid Mubeen, 30 November 2014

[28] Daramay, interview by Majid Mubeen, 30 November 2014

[29] Daramay, interview by Majid Mubeen, 30 November 2014

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Masjid Al-Jamia: The History of Penn's Muslim Students Association and the Mosque in West Philadelphia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In West Philadelphia, at the intersection of Walnut and 43 rd Streets, stands a magnificent mosque: the Masjid Al-Jamia. Red bricked and massive, this mosque is one of the oldest and best-known places of worship in Philadelphia. Despite the mosque's fame, few know of the unique history of its establishment.