Birmingham Islamic Society

The Birmingham Islamic Society is a religious organization comprised of more than 750 members of the Muslim faith. Primarily serving Sunni Muslims, it is the largest organization for Muslims in the Birmingham metropolitan area.

Founded in the 1970s in a building near UAB, the society later moved into the former Rosedale School building in the historic Rosedale community of Homewood. This building is the site of the Islamic Academy of Alabama, an accredited school with additional instruction in the Qur'an and the Arabic language. The Society's president is Ashfaq Taufique.

Friday prayers are held at the Rosedale center and at a rented facility in Hoover. Eid services (on the two major annual Islamic holidays) are held jointly with all of the city's Muslim congregations, often at the Alabama State Fairgrounds.

The BIS provides a variety of services for Muslims, including emergency financial assistance, educational and social events for the community, marriages, and burials. During the observation of the last week of Ramadan in 2006, the Society opened its Rosedale center to visitors from all faiths for evening meals, tours, and open discussion.

To accommodate the rapid growth of the local Muslim community, the Society purchased the former Point of Grace Church on Hackberry Lane in Hoover in 2006. The Hoover Crescent Center in Bluff Park was planned to complement the Rosedale facililty, primarily to serve as a location for prayers and youth activities. Zoning approval was given by the Hoover City Council on May 15, 2006 and construction continued through October 2007. A public open house is planned in late 2007.

An unrelated project at Sulphur Springs and Al Seier Roads for the Shiite Ismaili Center was rejected by the Hoover Plannning Commission in August 2007.

References

• Bryan, Kim (October 21, 2006) "Christians, Jews find faiths linked at Islamic center." Birmingham News.
• Garrison, Greg (October 13, 2007) "Muslims looking forward to new Bluff Park mosque." Birmingham News.

External links

• Birmingham Islamic Society
• Karim Shamsi-Basha and Ann Walton Sieber. "Birmingham 9 to 5." Saudi Aramco World 57 (6) (November/December 2006): 33-43.