Islamic Foundation of Greater St. Louis

The Islamic Foundation of Greater St. Louis is a an organization containing two Masjids. The first, Masjid Bilal is located in downtown St. Louis, at 3843 W Pine Blvd, next to the campus of Saint Louis University. The second and larger one, Daar-Ul-Islam is a mosque located in Ballwin, Missouri at 517 Weidman Road

History

In 1965, a small group of Muslims formed a local chapter of the Muslim Students Association, a group that has its headquarters in Gary, Indiana. Initially, the group met for prayers and other activities at facilities provided by St. Louis University. As the group increased to 100 members, it began to hold prayer meetings at the International Institute.

In 1974, the group incorporated as the Islamic Center of Greater St. Louis, a non-profit organization, and began to look for a building of their own. The next year they purchased from Wolf Construction an office building at 3843 West Pine Boulevard, on the edge of the St. Louis University campus. Following a successful fund-raising event in 1982, the building was extensively renovated.

As the years rolled by, the group's leaders realized that with the continued growth of the Islamic community in St. Louis, a larger facility was needed. In 1987, the organization purchased 5 acres (20,000 m²) of horse-grazing pasture land across from Queeny Park. Fund-raising continued to raise the money for construction of a new building.

On Nov. 27, 1992, a groundbreaking ceremony was held. Christian and Jewish community leaders attended the event. County Executive Buzz Westfall declared the day "Muslim Awareness Day". The building opened in November 1995.

References

• Islamic Foundation of Greater St. Louis Fact Sheet

External links

• Islamic Foundation web site