Islamic Center of New England-Quincy

Islamic Center of New England

The history of the Islamic Center of New England is the story of seven unskilled, uneducated Lebanese Muslim families who immigrated to the United States in the early 20th century, arriving in a foreign land, with no mosque to attend and no hope of building one. It took two generations (immigrant and first-born) working together for 30 years to build it. Each generation motivated for different reasons, but ultimately wanting the same thing: to express their ethnic and religious heritage, become an integral part of the religious landscape of America, educate their children, and create a space where their children could socialize and marry each other.
The mosque they built in 1964 in Quincy, MA is the oldest mosque in New England. Their accomplishment at first looked like it might be just a shallow victory. The dark cloud of debt, insufficient funds to pay bills, and hardly anyone at Friday prayers threatened to undo their dream. After 30 years of trying to build a mosque, only a handful of founders were left, fighting against all odds, once again, to keep the doors open.