By Oliver Muhammad
As Salaam Islamic Center of Raleigh, North Carolina is inviting you to become a Partner in helping to build a Modest Masjid for a Dynamic community of Muslims in Southeast Raleigh that is open for all people! We are “The Capital City Mosque” where we promote human growth, the preservation of Intellect, soul, property, deen, human dignity and offspring. Our goal is to establish Tawheed in all of its dimensions, Tazkyiah (the growth & purification of humans) and the building of an advanced Community rooted in Iman (Faith/ Imanu Mufassal).
The background and history of ASIC (As Salaam Islamic Center) began during the late 1950s. Islam began to spread throughout the state of North Carolina by individuals coming from the Maryland and District of Columbia areas planting seeds of awareness for the growth and development of Islam. Coinciding with the times, there was great concern over poverty, social unrest and racial injustice. By the early 1960s a band of approximately 5 families pooled their meager resources and began holding Islamic services in a garage and then in a storefront building, and then above a taxi cab stand in Durham, North Carolina which would be the establishment of the first known Islamic Center in North Carolina. Kenneth B. Murray-Muhammad and several families commuted back and forth from Raleigh to Durham until the late 1960s when urban renewal and redevelopment displaced many of the striving African American business establishments.
There were several storefront buildings eventually purchased in Durham on Chapel Hill Street by believers from Raleigh and Durham. These buildings would become the first among freestanding Masajid owned by Muslims in Raleigh, Durham, Winston-Salem and Charlotte in the State of North Carolina. In 1970 the Raleigh community established itself under the leadership of Sheikh Kenneth B. Murray-Muhammad, Leo Graham aka Brother Seifuddin and many others in a small residential dwelling on Martin Street and later moved to a storefront on Hill Street. These humble facilities would housed its Islamic school that operated from preschool to high school. A larger residential dwelling was eventually acquired on Lord Anson Drive where Jumah, Taleem and week-end school were also held. This residential property was to become the first property owned by the Muslims in Raleigh the Capital City in 1999. The name of the Masjid changed from Masjid Seifuddin to As- Salaam Islamic Center to better reflect the community’s posture against the rising tide of Islamophobia even before 911.
As Salaam Islamic Center began providing a Weekend School for its students and parents with Islamic Studies and a variety of academic and social activities. An enrollment of approximately 40 plus students made the facility too small with no space for growth. The community purchased another property to expand its base of operations and to eventually build a new Masjid facility. The community has torn down these properties in order to begin the process of construction. This was done due to the urgent need to build a facility to meet the needs of our growing Muslim community and to accommodate its growing outreach activities as well.
The Board of Trustees of As-Salaam/The Peace Islamic Center has been negotiating the purchase of 1.67 acres of land with houses on four other lots comprising an entire neighborhood block. The proposed expansion complex will accommodate over 350 believers in the prayer area (musallah) with 10 classrooms for an educational facility for pre-kindergarten through middle school, office space, a kitchen, multipurpose room gymnasium and library. Outreach programs for the broader community will also include the use of some classrooms. The projected construction cost for the first phase is $500,000.00 for the 9,600 square footage of the structure. Currently ASIC has approximately $175,000 in the building fund account and is securing funding from individual donors, seeking grants and a capital campaign. To realize our goal of building a complex that meets the needs of its members and the community-at-large, additional support is needed from generous donors and organizations seeking to invest and partner with us in our worthy efforts to establish a variety of programs and outreach services to southeast Raleigh.
We are seeking to identify people and families regardless of race or ethnic background who consider themselves progressive, and who desire to live the Muslim life to its fullest. We want to invite you to become affiliated with a dynamic community that has positioned itself for growth.
As Salaam Islamic Center invites you, your family and the new millennials to consider becoming a beneficiary of this growth that is occurring. By accepting our invitation you will have a vehicle to achieve your personal and family goals by learning and implementing the Quran and Sunnah in every aspect of your life in a logical way.
As Salaam Islamic Center knows that many individuals and families desire for themselves a supportive community environment. Today most people are looking for a community that’s supportive, encouraging and stimulates its members to love and respect each other but also inspires each person to become self-actualized and fulfilled.
As Salaam Islamic Center of Raleigh has as its priority the goal and objective to encourage each person to strengthen their relationship with Allah and reach their God given human potential that leaves nothing of good out. We invite you and your family to participate in programs and activities that target our youth, young adults, our seniors, women and men. These programs and activities give full expression, creativity and growth to the whole person.
As Salaam Islamic Center has a variety of classes and worship services that give support for your personal growth intellectually and spiritually. We hope that you will consider attending Jumuah (Friday congregational Prayer) at 1:30 p.m, Wednesday evening Quranic & Arabic Studies Class at 7 p.m. and Fajr Halaqah (Study circle) and Islamic Studies & Taleem (lectures) on Sundays from 11:00 am until 1:30 p.m. We are planning on re- establishing a Sunday school in the fall of 2017 for our young people that teaches Islamic Studies, Quranic Arabic, the biography of Prophet Muhammad (saw) and proper adab (manners etc.).
Go to Launchgood.com/asicnewmasjid or visit www.assalaamic.org to make a contribution. May Allah reward you with a mansion in Jannah!