Area mosque expands, promotes gender equality

When the Mosque Foundation of Bridgeview opened its doors in 1981, about 100 Muslims filled just a few prayer rows. Today, 26 years later, attendance has skyrocketed to almost 5,000 participating in Friday prayers and 10,000 attending each week.

Now one of the most successful mosques in the Midwest, its directors have a solution to the overcrowding that has occurred for years: a $4.9 million expansion project.

The expansion will include increased prayer space, a library, more classrooms, a reception area, and a 71-foot minaret. The project will add 26,000 square feet to the mosque’s existing 18,000 square feet, more than doubling its size.

“The expansion shows how much our community has grown,” said Linda Falah, 22, a Chicago Ridge resident who travels only three miles to the mosque. “And shows how it will continue to grow.”

The Mosque Foundation broke ground on the expansion in October 2006, which is set to be completed in February 2008.

“It’s basically like building a whole new mosque,” said Imam Kifah Moustapha, associate director of the Mosque Foundation.

The Mosque Foundation opened a second mosque in Orland Park in 2005. Many community members thought the opening of the newer mosque would reduce the crowds in Bridgeview, but the numbers haven’t stopped climbing.

“The number of worshippers continues to increase, and space is at a premium,” said Mohommad Sahloul, president of the Mosque Foundation.

Moustapha said a few community members were reluctant or confused about the project at first.

“Some people suggested going somewhere else and opening a new masjid instead of expanding,” said Moustapha. “But since then, the community reaction has been great. Everyone’s talking about it.”

True, many are talking about it. The mosque lies directly in the heart of a predominantly Muslim neighborhood so many residents pass the construction site regularly on their way to work or school and see the progress of the construction.

Jenin Othman, who has attended the mosque at least several times a week since its opening, admits the development she sees has changed the way she feels about the project.

“I was on the fence because it’s a lot of money. But now I see it, and I support it,” she said.

Donations are the only form of fundraising for the expansion, according to mosque officials. The congregation is reminded every day to help by donating whatever they can anonymously, in accordance with Islamic guidelines.

But over-capacity isn’t the only reason for expanding, mosque officials say. Over the years, when the congregation got too large to fit on just one of the mosque’s two floors, the group was split with men on the top floor and women in the smaller lower level. But this has lead to an over-crowded space and difficulty for some of the men to hear the imams preach.

In an effort to take the “sisters” out of the basement, the mosque is committed to this expansion project to significantly increase prayer space for female Muslims and practice gender-equality in the mosque, according to Moustapha.

“In Islamic tradition, women are on the same level as men,” said the imam, who supervises the daily operation of the mosque.

Khalida Baste is principal of Aqsa School, an all-girls institution founded by the Mosque Foundation in 1986, which now serves pre-school through grade 12. She is thrilled about the expansion and what it means for Muslim women.

“In some mosques, women are denied,” Baste said. “Ours is very considerate of women’s rights and is always trying to include them and recruit them to be on the board.”

Currently, there are only four women on the 21-member board, including Baste, and she hopes to see that number increase in the future. She also says the expansion has to happen not just for the women, but for everyone that attends.

“This [extension] is a necessity, not a luxury,” Baste said. “Right now, you literally have no space whatsoever. The mosque is just trying to accommodate a large community whose growth is exponential.”