Two young men in New York City, Aman Ali and Bassam Tariq, are nearing the end of their journey to document visits to “30 mosques in 30 days” on their blog of the same name.
The personal project to visit and photograph the insides of mosques throughout the holy month of Ramadan (during which Muslims fast from dawn to sunset) has even attracted the attention of local New York television.
Their first blog entry on August 22 began:
Tonight my friend Bassam Tariq and I came up with an insanely random idea: What if we prayed at a different mosque every single day for the month of Ramadan? Hence, this Web site was born…
According to a study at Columbia University there are approximately 600,000 Muslims NY1 local television, there are nearly 1 million Muslims in New York City of many different cultural and ethnic backgrounds.
It is not common for people to go to visit mosques belonging to other groups, but Aman and Bassam (both of South Asian origin) say they have been met with smiles and warm welcomes everywhere.
Day 9: Masjid Aqsa (West African mosque in Manhattan)
Today, I decided to stay in my neighborhood and visit Masjid Aqsa. The mosque is a couple of blocks south of my apartment on 116th and Frederick Douglas. The community is predominantly West African. It is said that this area also houses the majority of the Senegalese in New York.
Similar to other masajid in Manhattan, vendors surrounded the entrance selling everything from Madani Dates to Nike socks. One of the more interesting vendors sold dried fish.
Day 11: Masjid Al-Hikmah (Indonesian mosque in Queens)
I love Indonesian people and their food just as much. To break our fast we had dates and this person in the blue shirt was serving this really good Indonesian soup.
Transcending cultural divides is not always easy.
Bassam very candidly describes his thoughts on Day 12 when he was presented with two mosques only blocks away from each other in Brooklyn: a Bangladeshi mosque, and a West African one.
Being South Asian, the Bangladeshi mosque would have been the easier option, but with the added encouragement of a friend, he decided on the greater personal challenge.
Day 12: Masjid Tawhid Inc. (West African mosque in Brooklyn)
… Things didn’t seem that awkward in the beginning. In fact, it was only when I started to wonder how the rest of the congregation perceived me that I began to feel uneasy. I felt like a freeloader coming in — barely eating the food offered to me — and then leaving abruptly afterwards . A bad exhibitionist, if you will. Though no one in the masjid might have felt that way, I wonder if anyone asked themselves, “Why didn’t he just go to the Bangladeshi mosque?” Maybe it’s my own insecurities that raise the question.
Day 22: Albanian Islamic Cultural Center (Staten Island)
… The mosque has its own chef that prepared the food, may Allah reward him for his talent.
But the food didn’t compare to our true experience at the mosque. We sat among many of the younger kids in the community just picking their brains a bit about the community…
… One thing I really love is seeing younger kids come to mosques because they genuinely enjoy being there, not because they are dragged by their parents. Its kids like these that make me feel good about where the Muslim community as a whole is headed in this country.
Ramadan ends on September 19.
9 comments
There aren’t anywhere near 1 million Muslims in NYC. Look at Wikipedia, Demographics of NYC–there are only about 400,000 non-Christian, non-Jewish people in NYC. And many of those are Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain, Zoroastrian, Shinto, Rastafarian, etc., etc.
Hi Jinendra, my source for that number was NY1 television, I should have written that in the text. I’ve added now (link to video is above). Of course it’s possible they got it wrong, I will look into other sources. The Wikipedia page you reference has no source indicated. It says “citation needed”. It might be from the 2000 census, but that’s unclear. Understandably, those things must be difficult to count.
Since the census isn’t allowed to ask questions about religion it’s difficult to know the exact number of any religious group in the USA. According to this center at Columbia University, 600,000 is the estimated number for New York: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/news/04/09/muslims.html
all Masajid are Allah’s houses and all moslems, are welcome to Allah’s houses.
I think it is wonderful that you are able to pray each night at a different Masjid. You are having a chance to meet your brothers in Iman.
good for you, and may Allah accept your good deeds in this blessed month
New York City, 30 Mosques in 30 days!…Christians, Buddhist, Jews, Hindus or any other practicing Religion can not do the same at there places of worship in the home of Islam, Saudi Arabia…Because NO other Religion is allowed in Saudi Arabia, great advert of tolerance for Islam..where is the reciprocacy?…go on please tell me how tolerant Islam is in this context?
If you are interested in more information on how to “count” Muslim people, and in general, on how to count people of different religions, please see the following:
* this survey estimates 1.1 million Muslims in the whole US: http://www.gc.cuny.edu/faculty/research_briefs/aris.pdf
* Also, Andy Beveridge talking about the difficulties of counting Muslims. The Census is, in fact, not allowed to ask about religion at all. http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/demographics/20020101/5/596
* article by Andy Beveridge about measuring religion in NYC: http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/demographics/20080212/5/2431
* Pew did a survey of religion in the US, nothing nyc specific
http://religions.pewforum.org/reports
According to this center at columbia, 600,000 is the number: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/news/04/09/muslims.html