When empty, the local mosque on 10 1/2 Street is a cozy two-story, 1,550-square-foot home on the edge of the UVA campus. Come time for Friday prayer, however, fitting 150 people comfortably in a 600-square-foot prayer space is a challenge. Many area Muslims are forced to pray outside the building.
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Khan Hassan, a board member for the Islamic Society of Central Virginia, says UVA’s presence helps make Charlottesville “a very educated community,” and a tolerant place. |
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Soon, space will cease to be a problem. Just a short drive away, on Pine Street, the Islamic Society of Central Virginia’s (ISCV) new, 10,000-square-foot masjid—the Arabic word for mosque—is under construction. The new, three-story building will feature a main prayer space on the second floor, with space upstairs for Sunday school classes and social purposes. According to Khan Hassan, a member of ISCV’s Board of Trustees, the society serves about 2,000 families from Charlottesville and surrounding counties. While many members are UVA students and faculty, a large number of the members are refugees from Afghanistan, Bosnia, Burma, Ghana and Iraq.
“There are so many ‘ifs’ in question [in construction], but we are very optimistic now and are looking at the next 10 to 12 weeks,” says Hassan.
The history of the new mosque has a few “ifs”—from multiple requests for zoning exemptions to a national political climate that has occasionally turned fears about politically radical Islam into vague anxiety about a religious tradition. Hassan says local interest in a larger prayer space and study center dates back 20 years. UVA architecture students drew the first blueprints for the building and found the lot on Pine Street, which ISCV bought for $44,000 in 1999.
Originally, the mosque was designed with a wall that faces Mecca, called the qiblah wall. However, the wall violated zoning rules, which require a 50′ setback from the side of the property for non-residential buildings. The city’s Board of Zoning Appeals denied ISCV’s application for an exemption in 2006.
“We made the request three times,” says Hassan, a former faculty member at Piedmont Virginia Community College. Each time, ISCV was denied. “We presented other cases from Richmond and other cities where [permits] were routinely granted.” Although disappointed, Hassan says ISCV and the city have “worked so well” together on every other aspect of the project.
Hassan says that raising funds—$1.5 million, to be exact—took a long time and seemed a nearly impossible task. The ISCV organized fundraisers in Northern Virginia and created a website to gather donations, which eventually arrived from Australia, South Africa, China, and beyond. ISCV plans to hold a separate fundraiser to cover the cost of a dome and minaret for the building.
“Our experience has been that, once you commit yourself to the Almighty Allah, the resources came from all over the place,” says Hassan. “Every penny has counted to get us to where we are.”
Despite ISCV’s long interest in the Pine Street location, its presence in the neighborhood remains relatively new. However, Hassan says the society’s relationship with its new neighbors has been nothing but positive. Society members also went door-to-door to explain their project.
“They had to consent for us to be here, put up with the noise, put up with dust,” he says. “Everyone was exceptionally wonderful.”
Many of the adjacent homes are owned by Community Services Housing, Inc., a local nonprofit group that houses mentally handicapped individuals, as well as some with alcohol and drug problems. When it comes to the mosque, Robert Smith, the group’s president, says, “We have never been concerned.” He adds that CSH residents have not reported any negative responses to the ISCV.
Hassan attributes positive local responses to UVA’s presence. “This is a very educated community,” he says. “People are involved in international culture.”
Still, Hassan knows that there are some people who associate the religion solely with its politically radical practitioners, and hopes that the local community and others will learn to understand and cooperate with each other.
“Our beliefs are different, where we come from is different, but we are here with a common purpose,” says Hassan. “To serve…and live in freedom of religion [and] freedom of speech.”