Makled, Hussein.

Hussein Makled is a leader in the Arab American community of Southeastern Michigan, one of the founding members of the Islamic Center of America. Makled moved to Highland Park, Mich., from Lebanon in the 1940s because of the economic opportunities in Michigan. He joined the Hashmi Society, a mosque in Dearborn's South End, and soon convinced the scholar Mohamad Jawad Chirri, who he had known in Lebanon, to provide guidance to the society. Chirri became imam of the Hashmi Society, and Chirri and Makled, along with a group of young members, began raising money to build a proper mosque. After years of fundraising, which included a gift of over $40,000 from Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser, ground was broken for the Islamic Center of Detroit in 1962. Makled remained active in the Center as it grew to become the Islamic Center of America and moved to a new mosque, dedicated in 2003, known as the largest mosque in North America.