Muslim community hope to create mosque in Shakopee

Shakopee Valley News

The old auction center at 214 Holmes St. S. in downtown Shakopee doesn't look like much — right now, it looks like an abandoned auction center, complete with faded signs.

But it hasn't been an auction center for a while. At the moment, it's being used as a community center, primarily for immigrants.

Soon, it could be a place of worship. The Muslim community in Shakopee is hoping to turn the auction center into a mosque, a house of worship for followers of the Islam religion.

"The (Muslim) population is growing very, very rapidly," Shakopee resident Ibrahim Mohamed said. "These people, they want to have a physical place where they can get together, they can worship and they can do Islamic duties — to pray."

The auction center is currently rented for the Samaha Community Center, where residents receive help with a host of issues — finding a job, finding a house, signing up for health care, translating bills and more.

The building would have to be purchased before changes could be made so the mosque would have the necessary worship spaces, or even aesthetically have the features which typically distinguish mosques such as a domed roof or towers. The building would also need a conditional use permit from the city.

"You have to change the remodeling, you have to paint, you have to decorate — it's a lot of stuff," Mohamed said. "We know what we need to do."

The community is working to get everything together that will be needed throughout the process, but the project is in the initial stages. Mohamed said it could be one or two years before everything is in place.

A mosque in Shakopee would be huge for the Muslim community. Prayer, or Salaat, is one of the Five Pillars of Islam and asks Muslims to pray five times a day — dawn, midday, late afternoon, after sunset and between sunset and midnight. It's considered good to gather and pray in a mosque, although not required. Additionally, a ritual washing is done before each prayer, which is why mosques typically have washing facilities.

The closest mosques are in Eden Prairie, Burnsville and Minneapolis, meaning Shakopee Muslims must travel to congregate with others of their faith.

"This is going to be the closest one for me to practice my religion," said Mohamed Ismail, co-owner of a gas station in downtown Shakopee which contains a halal market. "I don't practice a lot, but the way I grew up is like, if you don't have religion or faith, it's like you are somebody who — not ignorant — but somebody who is confused. I wanted to have faith (and be) proud of what I have."

Worshippers of Islam face serious stigma in the United States — when asked to rate members of nine religious groups from 0 (most negative feelings) to 100 (most positive feelings), Americans gave Muslims an average of 48, lower than atheists, Jews, Catholics, Protestants, Christians, Buddhists, Hindus and Mormons, according to a Pew Research Center survey from 2017. That's an increase from 2014, when a similar survey put Muslims at 40 on the scale.

"There are people who have misconceptions about Islam because of what they are reading in the news, what they are hearing," Mohamed said. "Then they are linking everything bad to Islam — but Islam is not like that. Islam is a peaceful religion."

Earlier this month, the Dar-Al Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington was bombed by a homemade explosive device.

Those hoping to bring a mosque to Shakopee are aware of these perceptions and threats, but that won't stop them, Mohamed said. Ismail said he will likely install a security system at the new mosque. 

"It's the First Amendment, the freedom of religion," Mohamed said. "We don't worry about anybody, whether someone will like it or not."

City Councilor Jay Whiting said people like to skip over the First Amendment and its five freedoms, including prohibiting the establishment of a religion or prohibiting free exercise of any religion, in which the first American settlers believed strongly.

"They go right to the Second Amendment, but they skip by the total meaning of the First Amendment," Whiting said. "My ancestors ... they came over to escape religious persecution from England."

A post on the Concerned Citizens of Shakopee Facebook page was deleted in July by page administrator Jim Bob Jordan after a question about the auction center being turned into a mosque turned into a debate about Islam.

"I realize the poster only meant to ask a question," Jordan writes in a post explaining the decision to delete the original comment. "However, not only was it not answered by ANYONE ... but the thread quickly degenerated into (mostly hateful) RELIGIOUS banter and debate. Precisely what we DON'T intend!"

Whiting said he commented on the original post.

"What I said was whether it was a temple, a church, a mosque ... as long as it was within the zoning or was acceptable under a conditional use for that zoning, we would welcome it," Whiting said.

Though naysayers are loud, a majority supports the idea of a mosque, Mohamed said.

"I know the majority of the people of Shakopee, they are supportive of this community to have their own place," Mohamed said. "I expect two people, or three or four (opponents), that's fine. There's nothing agreed on 100 percent."

Faith groups have been conflicted for centuries but America was founded on the idea of welcoming those with different ideals, Whiting said. 

"People have got to realize that we have to allow people to have their freedom of religion and their thoughts and freedom from religious thoughts — if they choose to do that — and try and be welcoming to folks and let people live their lives how they see fit," Whiting said.

Ismail said he went to a school in east Africa that was only 10 percent Muslim, but everyone got along — he's hoping for a similar climate in Shakopee.

"We are brother and sister, the only thing is when we get home, we practice our faith," Ismail said. "When we come outside in public, we are the same people. I want, in a community like Shakopee, to be multicultural. People who don't worry about what kind of religion, or what color you are, or what gender you are."

Once the mosque is open, some events will be open to the public, such as panels to learn more about Islam or blood donation drives, Mohamed said.

"If the people talk to each other then they will get to know each other," Mohamed said. "If we use our commonality, we will have a lot to share instead of differences."