Photo by José A. Giralt
Twenty-five years ago, Mohammed Iqbal Hussaine, 71, moved to Norwood from Queens and was surprised by the number of Irish neighbors he met. “They treated me very well,” Hussaine recalls. After spending two years traveling to Parkchester for the closest mosque, Hussaine, his friend Syed Jamin Ali and a few others founded the North Bronx Islamic Center (NBIC) inside the basement of a private house at 3150 Perry Ave.
Today, as the neighborhood continues to undergo a cultural transformation, Hussaine, now retired, volunteers as the secretary of the NBIC with a new four-story building serving as the mosque, or Masjid, located at 261 E. 206th St. at the corner of Rochambeau Avenue. The house of worship opened its doors in May after years of incremental fundraising towards construction on the property the center has owned since 2000. In 2010, the city approved construction of the center where a three-story home once stood.
Together with NBIC’s president, Syed Jamin Ali, they have seen their mosque and Sunni congregation grow, lining up with an increasing Middle Eastern population planting roots in Norwood. “I remember being with Ali back then and maybe we [Bangladeshi] had six to seven houses, just a few families,” Hussaine said.
From those humble beginnings, Hussaine estimates Bangladeshi immigrants currently account for the ownership of 120 to 125 houses and businesses in Norwood.
The growth in Norwood’s Bangladeshi population has been accompanied with an increase in the Muslim community, which hails from other countries as well.
Although the NBIC does not keep records on the worshippers’ country of origin, Hussaine, who is originally from Bangladesh, describes the makeup of the congregation as being predominately Bangladeshi followed by Yemeni, Pakistani, and Albanian Muslims. “And we have from other countries, too. I don’t want to leave anyone out,” said Hussaine.
When religious services were still being held solely at the house on Perry Avenue, hundreds of worshippers would oftentimes pour out onto the sidewalk.
Jakaria Saha, 42, assistant secretary at NBIC, estimates that attendance at Perry Avenue peaked somewhere between 600 to 700 worshippers. “We are so happy to have a new [Masjid]. We can now have up to 1,000 [worshippers] here,” Saha said.
The first service at the new location was held last May at the start of Ramadan, the holiest month of the year for Muslims, which starts a 30-day period of fasting during daylight hours.
From the outside, the mosque could be mistaken for a small residential building, though the pointed arch windows frames foreshadow what’s inside. Upon entering the first interior doorway it becomes evident that it is an Islamic space for worship. A banner over the door announces that “There is no God besides Allah and Muhammad,” two mosaics on the left wall depict the holy city of Mecca, and at the far end is the distinctive niche in the wall known as the mihrab, which points in the direction of Mecca. When offering prayers, Muslims are expected to face the city of Mecca no matter where in the world they are located.
There is now discussion of requesting the city to increase the occupancy limit from 1,000 to 1,200 which would include the basement level.
“We are seeing so much growth that we will need other mosques [buildings] to help us,” said Hussaine.
A recent Friday prayer inside the mosque—the Islamic holy day, with Muslims expected to pray at least once inside a mosque—is a standing room only occasion, with congregants jammed into the first floor with the rest of the congregants assembling on the upper three floors for Friday prayers, also known as Jumu’ah. The Iman occasionally spoke in limited English to remind the worshippers on the importance of raising their children in Islam as a way to give them guidance in life.
Rather than create apprehension over the changing face of Norwood, Saha hopes people will remember the real meaning of Islam. “In one word, peace,” said Saha.
Both Saha and Hussaine hope long-time residents of Norwood will see the transformation in a positive light as a new wave of immigrants move into the neighborhood.
“You can see that we have opened businesses, doctors’ offices, pharmacies and home care stores. We like Norwood and want to be good neighbors with everyone,” said Hussaine.
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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.
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So heres the calamity for the future of America. New immigrants such as the Islamists in this report , rather than leaving the hell hole and the hellish life they left behind and embrace the promise of America (and the new western lifestyle), they seek instead to continue to identify themselves from the country that they voluntarily fled. They could have stayed behind and improved their society and country for their families, but yet they chose to pack up and leave- and chose America for a new home. As a native born American I am absolutely perplexed that so many newly arrived still consider themselves not to be Americans but would rather continue to identify themselves from the land they abandoned. And if this is such a deplorable, racists, white supremacist nation (as we repeatedly are told it is) why would they not choose Canada?
Wait until you discover how many of us born American, former Christians, are converting to Islam. 😛 There’s nothing that can be done to stop the true religion of Almighty God! Cry all you want!
The Irish founded their Ancient Order of Hibernians and their County societies inn order to “identify themselves from the country that they voluntarily fled.” Ditto the Knights of Columbus. Do you have a problem with those?
I’m very proud of the members of this group for persevering in their long effort to build a mosque. Years ago, I knew some members of this mosque, through the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition; although I’ve lost touch, I remember them as lovely and civically minded people.
When my parents, and the generation of Irish immigrants that came before them, came to this country, they also built their own institutions — county associations, churches, restaurants, Irish gift and record stores, bars, etc. Why do we expect people who decide to emigrate from Bangladesh to leave their religion and culture behind? Immigrants of every nation bring something of their own culture, and are also influenced by the cultures of the people around them. If you choose to see that as a threat, it says more about your insecurities than it does about the people you feel threatened by.
The section that says “A banner over the door announces that “There is no God besides Allah and Muhammad,”” is incorrect. The banner displays the shahada, testimony of faith, which is “There is no god besides/but God (Allah) and Muhammad is the messenger of God”. Please fix it.
A common misconception is that Muslims worship Muhammad or somehow that he performs a savior role in Islam like Jesus does in Christianity. This is caused by people who don’t know much about Islam attempting to make Islam fit Christianity by placing Prophet Muhammad in the role of Jesus. In reality, Islam is absolute monotheism, with no question of worshipping the creation in any way. The prophets have their roles, but they were human beings and we don’t worship human beings.