Islamic Center of Rochester (Rochester, N.Y.)

The Islamic Center was founded on December 25, 1975. Doctors Salahuddin and Sarwat Malik had been part of an informal group of about twenty-five Muslim families (among them seven Pakistani and two Iranian) who had held gatherings and religious services in their homes for some time. However, an incident of discrimination against the Maliks' older daughter Sumaiya, which took place at Allen Creek Elementary School, moved the group to formalize their existence, realizing that Muslims needed a more formal presence in the area. (A third grade teacher refused to allow Sumaiya to describe Muslim and Pakistani celebrations after the teacher had asked Christian and Jewish students to describe their traditions.) The incident was covered by the Times Union.

The initial founding group consisted of two Turks, two Iranians, two Americans, two Pakistanis, and two Arabs. Salahuddin Malik was elected president and would serve two terms consecutively (1975-78). He has since served as president for a total of eleven years intermittently. The center rented a facility on Monroe Avenue from 1975-1983. Salahuddin Malik was again president (1983-87) when the center decided to build a permanent site.

The center had already purchased land on River View Drive (west of Rochester Institute of Technology) in Henrietta in 1978. When construction was to begin, the surrounding community came out against the center. After some consideration of their options, the group decided against locating in a place where they were not welcomed. The second parcel of land they looked at was on Ridge Road in Irondequoit, next to St. Josaphat's Church. However, the parcel had a covenant that stipulated that St. Josaphat's had the right to approve the purchaser of the land, and the church denied the sale to the Islamic Center.

Finally, the center examined land on Westfall Road in Brighton, then mostly undeveloped except for the town park. Here, its reception was very different. The Brighton Jewish community in particular and the town as a whole were very welcoming. They actively ushered the approval of the development at the town council meetings. The community even proposed the idea of building a minaret, which was not included in the plans. (Since the minaret serves the purpose of calling the faithful to prayer, and the area's Muslim community would not hear a muezzin's voice at this location, there was no need to build one.) In 1984, the first congregational prayer was held in the still unfinished structure, and by 1985 the center was ready for use.

For fourteen years the center operated with volunteer staff, only. The center is democratically run. Officers have included African-Americans, Arabs, Bangladeshis, and others. In the late 1980s, the center established a Council of Trustees to deal with long-term planning, care of the mosque, hiring and firing of staff, and fundraising. The Board of Directors could now deal exclusively with day-to-day issues. Salahuddin has intermittently served as chair of the Council for twelve years. Ahmad Haroon is the current chair.

Regular functions at the center include the five daily prayers, charity in the community, and organizing the annual celebrations such as Ramadan (the center provides a daily free fast-breaking meal for university students and the poor). A Parents' Support Group has existed since the 1990s. The center offers religious education. It also owns a Muslim section at Riverside Cemetery and a Muslim cemetery in Avon. In 1989 the center hired its first and current imam, Dr. Muhammad Shafiq (Ph.D. in comparative religions from Temple University) from Pakistan. Interaction with the larger Rochester Community has been facilitated by the addition of a permanent imam.

The center has participated in the Interfaith Forum, which was established in the 1970s in Rochester. Meetings were held every third Thursday at the Islamic Center. Other interfaith groups in which it participates include the Christian-Muslim Commission, the Jewish-Muslim Commission (the reservations of some in the Muslim community had to be overcome to establish this one), and the Interfaith Alliance. (The latter had a political orientation, whereas the Interfaith Forum dealt with religious issues.) The Interfaith Forum participated in the Rochester sesquicentennial celebration.

Salahuddin Malik has participated in the annual Martin Luther King celebrations. (He fondly remembers interactions with the late Rabbi Judah Miller, a regular participant in these celebrations. His congregation at Temple B'Rith Kodesh and the Islamic Center celebrated the anniversary of the Camp David Accords in 1993 and got a "thumbs up" from the Democrat and Chronicle.) Salahuddin Malik represented the Islamic Center and community at the opening of the Interfaith Chapel at the Greater Rochester International Airport. The Catholic Diocese and the Islamic Center have collaborated in publishing a Catholic-Muslim Memorandum of Understanding.

September 11th impacted the Rochester Muslim community as it did everyone else. The larger Rochester community responded quickly to the center's needs in this time of crisis. The Brighton police had already sent out patrol cars to protect the center before Dr. Shafiq could call them. Despite the expected phone and written threats (the center has always received them during times of tension arising in the Middle East), the center received an overwhelmingly good response in the form of letters and flowers. SUNY Brockport and the center have since organized an annual "Islam 101" lecture series. Few people have protested the series.