In a
particularly timely presentation Professor Sally Howell of the University of
Michigan Dearborn spoke on March 16 about the history of Detroit’s Islamic
community.
Professor
Howell’s presentation made clear how deeply rooted Islam is in southeastern
Michigan, while at the same time noting the evolutionary changes that help
contrast Islam in the Detroit area with the faith as it is practiced in the Middle East.
The nation’s
first mosque was actually a tourist attraction – opened in 1893 as part of the
“Cairo St.” exhibit at the Columbian World Exposition held in Chicago. To add authenticity to the exhibit the adhan
(call to prayer) was made from the mosque’s minaret five times a day. To the
surprise of the organizers, who saw the call as merely an added entertainment,
faithful Muslims would actually gather when called to pray. Surprise turned to
delight, as this became something of an additional tourist attraction, and the
fair’s organizer’s saw the prayer of believers as adding even more authenticity
to their “exquisite and picturesque little mosque.”America’s first mosque built by Muslims opened in Highland Park, Michigan in 1925. Like so many other immigrants these people had been drawn to Highland Park by Henry Ford’s Model T plant, and its $5 a day pay scale. Although the mosque opened in 1925, Islamic religious leaders had been active in the community for more than a decade.
The first religious
leader in the community, Kalil Bazzy arrived in 1913. He was a man of great
piety, but spoke no English. Before he left Syria (today southern Lebanon) he
had received a note, written in English, by his brother, who was already in Detroit.
Bazzy was instructed by his brother to pin the note on his clothing when he
arrived in the United States and show it to officials.
That note
got him from New York to Detroit, onto a local streetcar, and off the streetcar
at LaBelle and Victor Ave. There, too
his utter amazement, he found a community “Arab, all Arab.” As another immigrant related, “You could walk
up and down Victor Avenue and not hear one word of ‘American’.” Bazzy, a Shi’a, was a man of piety, but as
some noted,no formal religious training.
Soon after
Bazzy’s arrival in Highland Park, he was joined by another man of great piety, Hussien
Adeeb Karoub, who from the Bekaa Valley, about twenty miles from Beirut. Unlike
Bazzy, Karoub had received religious education. He could recite the Qur’an from
memory. His brother Mohammed, who had already spent five years in America,
recognized that bringing his devout brother to Detroit to lead a religious
community would be of great benefit. Thus Karoub came to America.
His Sunni
roots at first made many of the Shi’a uncomfortable, as there was a long
tradition of Shi’a harassment and persecution in Syria. But Karoub proved a tolerant man who reached
out to all in the Islamic community.
In the
1920s, the Islamic community consciously reached out to African-Americans with
heartfelt statements regarding the equality of all people in the eyes of God.
Many African-Americans chose to accept the faith. Other African-Americans would
incorporate Islam into their own religious tradition. The Nation of Islam, although today
headquartered in Chicago, was founded in Detroit during the 1920s. The Nation of Islam’s Temple #1 still remains
open for worshippers in Detroit.
Howell told
a fascinating story of the growth of Detroit’s Islamic community, as well as
its interaction with Detroit’s African-American community. Her thoughtful discussion of the nation’s largest
Islamic community was one of value and importance.