By Elyas (@PirateSomali) in Columbus, Ohio
Salaamu Alaykum!
I am delighted to have the chance to contribute to Brother Syed’s Ramadan project. I’ve learned of his initiative through another blog run by two friends who are also doing the same project that Brother Syed is doing.
Since the two friends decided to steer their project in a controversial path I decided to have nothing to do with their blog.
So now I am following Brother Syed’s Ramadan project. Furthermore, I learned that the Brotha allows his guests to contribute to his project.
Realizing that, I decided why don’t I visit my local mosque and take pictures and videos.
So that’s what I’ve done.
WHO AM I ?
My name is Elyas and I live in Columbus, Ohio.
I am originally from Somalia, right, exactly the land of the pirates lmao.
Columbus has been my home for the past decade.
Alhamdulillah I was born and bred Muslim.
As a matter of fact I have never seen someone outside of Islam until we fled the civil war back in the motherland. I remember seeing a Christian person as a young refugee boy in Nairobi, Kenya.
I just could not comprehend that people could be something else other than Muslim. That was my naive immature thinking.
It was an eye opening experience.
MUSLIMS IN COLUMBUS
The Muslims in the Greater Columbus area are of multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-lingual background.
Perhaps the largest group of Muslims in Columbus are the Somalis.
This city is home to the second largest Somali influx in the United States. They constitute about 55% of all the Muslims in Columbus.
ABOUT THE MOSQUE
The Noor Islamic Cultural Center (NICC) is located in Columbus, Ohio.
Building was started in 2001, and completed in 2006.
NICC is the first Islamic center to become a polling place in Central Ohio.
It includes a mosque for prayer purposes, it also has a social hall, kitchen, classrooms, and lecture rooms. It is a place for everyone to come, learn, and practice Islam in every element.
The center holds the five daily prayers in congregation.
It also holds Islamic lectures, Sunday school, kids club, study group sessions, individualized lessons and classes to learn the Qur’an and Sunnah of the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and outreach programs for people who are interested in learning more about Islam.
My Association with NICC
I infrequently attend NICC because it is little bit further from my residency, therefore I go to this other mosque that’s just around the corner from my home. However, today I decided to attend NICC because it is more newer and sophisticated then all the other mosques in Columbus.
(Btw, the congregation of this Mosque are highly educated South Asian and Middle Easterners and it is located in the more wealthier suburbs)
I got there around 7:15 pm and the place was pretty empty.
I had the chance to walk around and take pictures and videos.
While there I realized that they actually do not have iftar on weekdays and that they only have it on the weekends. After learning this I decided to head home before Maghrib because truth be told today I was exceptionally hungry.
I returned back to the Mosque for Salatul Isha and for the Taraweeh.
Alhamdulillah once I got there the place was jam packed.
As a matter of fact I couldn’t pray in the main praying section for men that some of us had to pray in adjacent room.
Maasha,laah we had a brother who was brought in from Texas that was leading the prayers. Maash,alaah he had a very soothing voice.
So yes that is my story and I’m sticking to it.
Ramadan Kariim!
— Elyas
NOTES:
This is 30Masjids‘ first Guest Blog entry from what can only be described as the Greater-Greater-Greater Toronto Area . . .
Columbus, Ohio!
This is also our first Guest Video Blog with three videos submitted for this Guest Blog Post by Elyas.
You may learn more about Noor Islamic Cultural Center (@NoorNews) and the posters featured in the video here:
- Noor Islamic Cultural Center (NICC):
- Coming of Age: The Noor Islamic Cultural Center | By Babak Darvish
- Discover Islam Posters
Elyas (@PirateSomali) blogs at One Somali Dudes Take On Things.
Short URL : http://30masjids.ca/nicc
