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Islamic Center of Rolla Missouri (ICRM) 

THE 

MESSAGE 

Special Issue: March 17 th , 2015 

20 

WELCOME 

Its the time to embarce one another and make 

everyone feel welcome to the ICRM 

HISTORY 

Muslim Student Association is the most enfluenced 

organization to ICRM 

SOCIAL 

ACTVITIES 

During Ramadan and Eids, ICRM shining with social 

stars whos working hard to bring a smile to all 

community 

CELEBRATING THE 20 TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ISLAMIC CENTER OF ROLLA, MO

Muslim Student Association; Page 6 

CONTENTS: 

03 Letter from Shura 

04 Your Muslim Neighbors 

Welcome to ICRM; Pages 3-5 

Social Events : Page 12-13 

Plannig & Construction; Page 7 

HISTORICAL ASPECTS 

6 Muslim Student 

Association 

(MSA) 

7 Planning and 

Construction of Current 

ICRM Building 

8 Grand Opening of Recent 

ICRM Building 

8 Interview with Dr. Salah 

Taqieddine 

COMMUNITY SERVICES 

10 Contributions to Local 

Community 

11 Organizational Structure of 

ICRM 

12 Social Events 

14 Educational Programs 

Comunity Services; Education; 

Page 10 

Page 14 

2 • Designfreebies Magazine • www.designfreebies.org

LETTER FROM 

SHURA 

W 

elcome to the very 1st and special edition of the 

Islamic Center Rolla Missouri (ICRM) annual magazine, 

The Message. ICRM had its humble beginning back 

in the year 1994 and by the grace of Allah, the Rolla Muslim community 

moved into its new building in the year 2011. This last year, 

we marked an important milestone for our community, the 20th year 

anniversary of our foundation. This is also a very gratifying and emotional 

time for those who have worked tirelessly to see the dream of a 

new Islamic center come true. This masjid is one of up to 3000 Islamic 

centers across America and its goal is to provide a convenient place 

of worship, interfaith dialogue, Islamic education and community 

outreach services. Located near the campus of the Missouri university 

of Science and technology (MS&T), the Islamic center hosts a diverse 

group of individuals, students and professionals, from many different 

countries around the world. 

The magazine provides a historical overview of the Islamic center and 

Contact 

its construction. It also details the ICRM structural organization, provided 

community and social services and the introduction to the available 

educational programs for adults and kids. Everyone is welcome 

to participate and help us grow as a strong community. 

Through the magazine, we intend to reach the Muslim and non- 

Contact 

Muslim community of greater Rolla region, introduce folks about what 

we have to offer the area and seek suggestions for our continued 

improvement. It is the time to embrace one another and make everyone 

feel welcome to the house of Allah. The previously conducted and 

future planned open house events at ICRM also hope to build bridges 

between different faiths and promote a culture of peace, inshaAllah 

(God willing). In the end, I also like to take the opportunity to thank all 

those who have spent their time and effort, contributing towards the 

preparation of this magazine. 

Thanks for your cooperation. 

Dr. Yaqoob Ali 

Chairman, Shura Council 

Chief Editor 

Mohammed A. Debree 

Editor 

Alsedik Abousif 

Contributing Editors 


Alsedik Abousif 

Anan Takhrori 

Esam Ali 

Mohammed Debree 

Tarique Ahmad 

Rashid Kasim 

El Jilani Hamuda 

Ghaith Alshaia 

Emad Abdulrasoul 

Abdulsalam Alamri 

Adel Elkurry 

Revisers 


Marwan Hameed 

Rashid Kasim 

Photography 

Azzam Alsaihany 

yousf Ali 

Esam Ali 

Anan Takhrori 

Hesham Tuwair 

Tameem Ahmed Khan 

Emad Abdulrasoul 

Meshal Al-Shatti 

Designfreebies Magazine • www.designfreebies.org • 3

YOUR MUSLIM 

NEIGHBORS 

Countries from which the Muslim comunity 

in Rolla cames from: 

Green: current students and residence 

Yellow: Alumni and former residence 

“ O mankind, indeed We 

have created you from 

male and female and made 

you peoples and tribes 

that you may know one 

another. Indeed, the most 

noble of you in the sight of 

Allah is the most righteous 

of you” 

Surat Al-Ĥujurāt (5-2) 

The city of Rolla, which is often 

described as “in the middle of 

nowhere”, has a Muslim community 

with members that came from all 

corners of the world including students, 

engineers, and doctors. For them, it was not 

easy to relocate unless the next place will 

meet their spiritual, academic, and economic 

requirements. Missouri S&T, Mercy clinic, 

and Phelps County Regional Medical Center 

(PCRMC) became, undoubtedly, significant 

reasons for students and doctors from all 

over the world to study and to work in Rolla. 

Moreover, the Islamic center of Rolla Missouri 

became an additional reason for Muslims to 

choose Rolla city as their final destination. 

By: Alsedik Abousif 

Today, there are nearly 300 students, and 

about 6 faculty members of the University 

of Missouri for science and technology. 

Moreover, the number of alumni from 

this scientific institution far exceeds the 

number of active students and faculty. 

Many of them have left this city, but their 

research and contributions are still talking 

about them. For example, Farouk El-Baz 

who graduated in 1961 was a member of 

the Apollo mission to explore the moon. 

In 1969, he helped to locate the landing 

site on the moon and also helped to 

train of astronauts for their most famous 

trip of the “humans outside this planet”. 


The feedback of the Missouri S&T Muslim 

alumni reflects a good impression regarding 

the Alumni’s day-to-day experience and 

various Islamic events in Rolla. Mr. Khairi 

Osman, civil engineer graduated in 1984, 

was one of the former presidents of Muslim 

Student Association (MSA) and he summarized 

his own experience by saying: “In 

August 1980, there were quite a few Muslims 

from other countries such as Syria, Iran, Iraq, 

Egypt, Turkey, Palestine etc. The first Jumu’ah 

(Friday Prayer) coincided with Eid ul-Fitr 

(Ramadan breakfasting celebration), and the 

university allowed us to use one of the campus 

empty rooms as our prayer room”. Later 

on, Mr. Osman and his colleagues rented an 

Dr. Farouk 

El-Baz MS&T 

Yearbook, 

1961. Landing 

Site Selection 

secretory for 

lunar landing 

missions 

and Astronaut 

Training mission. 

apartment for their prayers and social activities. 

Dr. Mohamed Zoba, who was one of 

the most active students in the department 

of Geology and Geological and Petroleum 

Engineering department and graduated in 

2012, said: “ICRM provided a real nourishing 

environment for me and my family. It provided 

the space for us to freely practice our 

religion and meet with our fellow Muslims”. 

Mr. Rashid Kasim, a petroleum engineering 

graduate student, said: “I am very grateful 

to God for giving us this wonderful place 

for worship and to fulfill our religious obligation. 

I use the ICRM for prayer, Ramadan 

activities, and as meeting place for the community”. 

Also, Shikayat Ali who is a current 

graduate student at the nuclear engineering 

department was so impressed about his 

experience in Rolla that he said: “ICRM has 

a very warm and comfortable environment 

not only for Muslims but also it welcomes 

people from other faiths too to come and 

learn about Islam. Members of ICRM are very 

friendly and helpful for every one”. Finally, Dr. 

Mohamed Fitri and his family visited ICRM 

for daily prayers and other activities especially 

during Ramadan. “We like the environment 

of the ICRM and the members were 

friendly and helpful”, Fitri said. It was amazing 

to see a diverse group of Muslims in this 

city, here to achieve their academic intentions 

and then be able to go back to their 

home country after a wonderful experience. 

Despite a different and not so positive attitude 

toward Islam, during this last decade, 

your Muslim neighbors here in Rolla have 

showed in many different ways, a pleasant 

coexistence, openness, and how peaceful 

religious Islam is. This has been reflected in 

various social activities including two community 

blood drives, Joplin tornado relief 

campaign, child abuse stand, Ramadan open 

Iftar for the local communities and neighbors, 

and various food and clothes distribution. 

In fact, your Muslim neighbors are 

gratified to be a part of greater Rolla community 

and proud representatives of their 

countries in their labs, classrooms, offices, 

and other avenues of daily interactions. 

“ It was 34 yrs ago when 

I first set foot in Rolla 

together with 10 other 

Malaysians. Nice to see 

that there is a permanent 

Masjeed for Miners to 

pray. 

Khairi Osman 

Civial Engineering Alumni 

Former MSA president 

“ I hope every Muslim in 

the local community will 

continue to contribute 

for the wellness of the 

society and make ICRM as 

an example institution for 

future generations” 

Shikayat Ali 

Graduate Student at 

Nuclear Engineering 

“Thank you Rolla community 

for your tolerance 

and hospitality that 

made us live peacefully 

and freely practice our 

religion. Your support is 

so much appreciated” 

Dr. Mohamed Zobaa 

Geology & Geophysics 

Alumni 

“ICRM plays main role to 

show the Islamic religion 

as valid for all time. So, 

we should share and 

participate in volunteer 

works to show a better 

image of Islam” 

Esam Altalhi 

Graduate Student at 

Physics Department 

MSA President 

I really believe that the 

committee who are running 

the ICRM are doing 

a wonderful job, and I 

know it takes patience 

and hard work to run a 

place like the ICRM. 

Rashid Kassim 

Graduate Student at Petroleum 

Engineering 

“The ICRM community 

should really appreciate 

the building which serves 

the community not only 

for prayers but also for 

education, information 

and others activities” 

Dr. Mohd Fitri 

Chemical Engineering 

Alumni 


MSA photo in front of a rentrd house used in thier 

activites (Source MS&T yearbook, 1994): 

Back Row: Azzedine Missoum, Yahya Khawaja, 

Wajid Khan, Muhamad Aulia, Md Ishfaqur Raza, Ali 

Al-Qahtani, Shahrul Azmi Yusof, Mohamad Ramadhian, 

Roziman Abd. Rahman, Abdul Jaleel Afridi, Add 

Fadhil, Bisma Husen, Maamoun Alhalabi, Mohd Zaidi 

Jaafar, Ismael Sated, Zeyad Abanmay, Md. Shari! Suki, 

Shaharudin Saleh, Khalid Khiran, Mohamad Nasir 

Ibrahim, Abdul Halim Ariff, Mohd Shah Hanif, Thayer 

Jawhar, Yehia Al-Amrani Front Row: Azmi Zainal 

Adnan, Nazarudin Che Salleh, Adik Soedarsono, 

Ahmed Mustafa, Mohamed Al-Tholaya, Reza Mohdar, 

Roslan Ahmad, Ahmad Fatani, Nanang Burhan, Iwan 

MSA 1984 soccor team (Source Khiri Osman, MSA 

former president); Mohd Azudin Yusof, Nor Zamri 

Abu Zarim, Adnan Mohd Yassin, Kamarul Cabe, Hamdan 

Suhaimi, Wan Asma Ibrahim, Sue Tryon, Azlan 

Raja Ismail, Abdulhalim Abhamid, Khairi Osman, and 

Zulkefli Mohamad. 

MSA Founders (Source MS&T yearbook, 1967); 

Mangunwidjojo, A Secretary; Ata-Abadi, P., President; 

Honarpour, M., Treasurer; Farazandeh, A., Mirbab, M., 

Rezghi, E., Dorosti, J., Rezvani, J., Gharagozlou, F. 

HISTORICAL ASPECTS 

Muslim Student 

Association (MSA) 

H 

istorically, the earliest date 

of the known MSA as a student 

organization goes back 

to 1967. Before that, individual organizations 

representing the students from different 

Muslim countries were present, like 

the Organization of Arab Students and 

Pakistani Students’ Organization. MSA represented 

the strongest student organization 

and have unified the effort of these 

isolated organizations. Since 1967, the MSA 

has been responsible for arranging student 

activities, especially Eid celebrations, 

Jumu’ah Prayers, and other Islamic occasions 

by requesting prayer places from the 

university or renting a building for the same 

purposes. In early 1992 or 1994, MSA played 

a major role in establishing the Islamic 

Center of Rolla-Missouri (ICRM), which is the 

only Islamic center within a 60 mile radius. 

The Muslim student association (MSA) is 

a student organization on the Missouri 

S&T campus, founded in 1976 on the basic 

tenets of Islam. Its goal is to deliver the message 

of Islam through the daily interactions 

of its members with peoples from other 

believes while creating a lifelong bond 

amongst them. MSA also seeks to uphold 

the values of tolerance, compassion, and 

sincerity in hopes of raising awareness and 

building understanding among different 

campus communities. Events such as Islam 

Awareness Week have formed the core of a 

strong tradition of outreach that we wish 

to build upon and continue in the years to 

come. Our members come from different 

parts of the world. They all share the same 

principles and goals, which is to succeed in 

life and learn how to become better 

Muslims. All our members participate in 

various activities such as Ramadan daily 

iftar, Eid celebrations, games, and field trips. 

Today, the Muslim Student Association still 

plays a significant role to serve the Muslim 

Students, both in the masjid and the university 

campus, under the leadership of the 

current MSA president, Mr. Esam Ali. “The 

most memorable moment for the author is 

when he served for the preparation of daily 

Iftar (breaking fast in Ramadan). “It was 

wonderful experience for me as I met and 

worked with Muslim students from different 

countries”, Mr. Ali said. MSA organizes 

different kind of events to benefit not only 

the Muslims students but also the local 

Rolla Community”. These events included 

blood donation drives, Arabic language 

classes, Arabic calligraphy classes, Open 

Houses, food distribution, Guest lectures, 

Graduation dinners, workshops, and participating 

in interfaith dialogues. In addition to 

that, our members play a big role in MS&T 

campus activities; they sponsor activities 

such as Peace day, earth day, and Census 

information day. They also provide the 

necessary help to the international office 

to help incoming Muslim students get in 

touch with other friends and get the help 

necessary to make their lives a little easier. 

By: Anan Takhrori 

& Esam Ali 


A 

s a result of the growing size of 

Muslim community in Rolla, the 

need for a new place of worship 

that could accommodate the current 

and future needs of the Muslim community 

became clear to everyone. Many 

meetings were held to brainstorm and to 

come up with a viable development plan to 

build a Mosque that could accommodate 

the growing community needs. In the final 

analysis, there were two options; expend the 

old Mosque, or build a new Mosque. Though 

building a new Mosque would present a 

bigger challenge in terms of finding location 

buying the land and financial resources, 

the Muslim community of Rolla decided to 

go ahead and build a new Mosque because 

the community felt that the other option of 

expending the old building would not meet 

need. The first task for the Muslim community 

of Rolla was to put in place a credible plan 

with tangible goals and benchmarks for building 

the new Mosque. Shortly, two committees 

were established; the Mosque Planning 

and Construction Committee (MPCC) and the 

Fundraising Committee (FRC), each committee 

was assigned with specific duties responsibilities. 

The first task of the newly formed MPCC was 

to find suitable land that was affordable, 

close to the old Mosque or at least not far 

from the University campus since most of the 

congregations were students. With the help 

of Almighty God, MPCC was able to find and 

purchase the land adjacent to the old masjid. 

In May 2007 the house that was neighboring 

to the old Mosque with two other houses 

within the same block became available for 

sale in the market and the MPCC quickly purchased 

it, and initiated the process of building 

the new Mosque. By 2009, the two houses 

purchased were demolished to prepare the 

ground for the new Mosque. 

The second phase was to come up with the 

architectural design for the new Mosque, 

and the committee members decided to visit 

nearby Islamic Centers such as the one in 

Columbia and St. Louis, MO, to observe what 

type of architectural design would be appropriate 

for the new Rolla Mosque. After exploring 

several designs, the committee settled on 

a new design for the Mosque. 

April 16th, 2010 was a memorable day for 

the Muslim community of Rolla because it 

was the ground breaking day for the new 

mosque, and as a joyful occasion, many members 

of the community wanted to become 

the first ones to “shovel the first dirt” out of 

the ground. The action has a symbolic meaning 

in the Islamic Culture. Once the construction 

of the new mosque was started, and the 

foundation part was completed, the need 

for procuring needed construction materials 

become a big challenge. The, MPCC committee 

had to continue to build the new mosque 

while the FRC committee was raising fund to 

cover the cost of construction. Even though 

budget was tight, with the help of Almighty 

God and the sound financial decisions of 

the committees, the construction of the new 

mosque proceeded smoothly and according 

to plan. 

The third phase was to put insulation, electrical 

systems, plumbing, exterior masonry and 

concrete work within the mosque parameters. 

However, the funds available at the time 

were not enough to cover all the expenses 

and the FRC committee decided to double its 

fundraising effort in order to come up with 

the needed funds. 

The fourth phase of the new mosque was 

interior design such as painting, carpeting 

and decoration, and installation of toilets 

and a kitchen that was big enough to accommodate 

community-cooking events like the 

Ramadan iftar or Eid celebration. In order 

to reduce cost, the community members 

decided to do some of the work themselves 

as volunteers. Volunteers did tasks such as 

painting and some portion of interior design. 

Planning and 

Construction of 

Current ICRM 

Building 

By: Mohammed Debree 

Working on the exterior and the walls of the ICRM 

building 

Starting work on the current ICRM building 

Breaking ground sermony, MPCC committee 


Grand Opening of Recent ICRM Building 

T 

he grand opening of the 

Islamic Center took place on 

January 20th, 2012. Working 

with Muslim Student Association (MSA), 

the ICRM committees and the members 

invited all friends and families of Rolla and 

the neighboring cities to attend the grand 

opening. Guests were welcomed by offering 

them a cup of Middle Eastern and 

Turkish coffee and dates. Gifts baskets were 

also distributed to the guests. MSA members 

offered tours to the building. Question 

sand answer and social gathering were also 

Anan Takhrori 

provided in addition to lunch and desert. 

Over 400 people attended the event including 

the Mayor of Rolla. Also, students from 

the Missouri S&T campus including Greek 

Houses and other clubs and organizations, 

campus staff, Rolla business employees, and 

the construction crew were also glad to get 

a chance to join everyone in celebrating the 

grand opening. 

The purpose of the grand opening was to 

invite the Rolla community to learn more 

about the new center where five daily 

prayers are offered in addition to Sunday 

school and Arabic classes for kids and 

non-Arabic speakers. In addition to learning 

about the building, the guests had a 

chance to watch a documentary about the 

construction process and the challenges 

faced during the years of hard work. Movies 

about Islam, Muslim countries, and Muslims 

around the world in general were played 

in the classrooms. Guests had a chance to 

ask questions and get to know the Muslim 

Community of Rolla and their Muslim 

neighbors. 

Interview with Dr. Salah Taqieddin 

By: Tarique Ahmad 

One of the founding members of the Rolla Masjid is Salah Taqieddin, 

so to learn more about him and the founding of this masjid we 

conducted an interview with him. A summary of that interview is 

attached below. 

Dr. Salah Taqieddin was born in Jordan in 1944. During his time in 

Jordan he finished a mining engineering degree and worked with 

a large mining company in Jordan. While working he was able to 

gain a scholarship to go back to school and gain his master’s degree. 

As he was completing his master’s program he saw an ad to come 

to the Colorado School of Mines to get a PhD through Yaramouk 

University. He pursued his PhD there until he his advisor unfortunately 

passed away, which lead him to search for a new advisor and 

ultimately led him to Rolla, MO and the University of Missouri Rolla. 

He arrived here in 1979, just a few days before Eid al-Adha and at 

that time there were only ten or so Muslim students. Since it was 

so close to Eid he and the other students asked the foreign student 

advisor for help finding a place to make Eid prayer. The advisor was 

able to find them a church that allowed them to make Eid Salaah. 

As some more time passed they gained a Muslim student advisor, 

Ibarahim Adawi, which pushed them to find a place that they could 

make salah. This was when one of the students suggested renting 

a one bedroom house and using it as a mosque. They were able to 

find such a house and began to hold jummah prayers there until 

they were asked to leave by the landlord. At this point they began 

to go to a friend’s home and hold salah there, marking the end of 

1979. In 1980 Dr. Salah graduated and returned to went back to 

Jordan until the summer when he returned as a visiting professor. 

As a visiting professor he was given a guest room in a guest house 

with a lot of vacant rooms at the time, so he would invite the other 

Muslims during Ramadan to come and join him. After that Ramadan 

he returned to Jordan again. When he was leaving for Jordan the 

Muslim Student Association was forming with Omur Tag as their 

advisor. He didn’t have much contact with Rolla again until two or 

three years later. He had heard that a couple of Muslim brothers had 

bought a home with the intentions of turning it into a mosque and 

had started praying there. 

Dr. Salah returned to Rolla in 2006 as a visiting professor in Civil 

Engineering. When he arrived he was astonished to see that the 

Muslim population had grown from 10 to almost 60 with a small 

home where they all prayed. The growing community was becoming 

too big for the house so they decided to build a new mosque 

in the same location as the old one. This lead to the creation of the 

construction committee that consisted of Dr. Salah, Dr. Assad Ullah 

and his wife, Dr. Abdul Jalel bil Arabi, Dr. Fethi Fenish, Dr. Chaudry, 

and Dr. Walid Assadi with Adul Aziz as their elected manager. They 

would meet every Saturday on the upper floor of the old mosque to 

discuss the building of the new mosque. 

Continued in Page 11 

8 • Designfreebies Magazine • www.designfreebies.org 

S

Warm wolcoming with dates and 

Arabic coffee The ICRM main entrance in 2012 

“Do not think 

little of any 

good deed, 

even if it is just 

greeting your 

brother with a 

Some guests having a warm conversation at the ICRM 

Prophet Mohammed 

(Sahih Muslim) 

Guests having a tour in the ICRM building 

Some guests at the ICRM opening 

Some guests at the ICRM opening 

Some guests in the ICRM building 


Tent outside ICRM center for “Child Abuse 

Prevention”, July 2013 

ICRM participation in interfaith dialogue, February, 

2014 

Blood drive organized by ICRM and community 

blood center 

ICRM traveld to Joblin (MO) to give hand and to distribute food supply to relief May 2011tornado 

COMMUNITY 

SERVICES 

ICRM contribution to Rolla community & 

beyond 

“And 

cooperate in 

righteousness 

and piety, but do 

not cooperate 

in sin and 

aggression “ 

Surat Al-Mā’idah (5-2) 

Rashid Kassim & 

El Jilani Hamuda 

W 

hat is community service, in 

general, and why we believe 

that community service is 

the essence and embodiment of what ICRM 

(the Islamic Center-Rolla, Missouri) and its 

members do every time a need for selfless 

activity arises within our community here 

in Rolla, or anywhere in the USA. While 

there are broader definitions of what actually 

constitutes as “community service”, the 

gist of it is volunteering, where someone 

performs an activity for the benefit of his or 

her community. The pictures above highlight 

four selfless activities that the ICRM 

and its members undertook that made a 

difference in our Rolla community and in 

our lovely state of Missouri. For instance, 

ICRM and its members took part in “Child 

Abuse Prevention” where we setup a tent 

outside the center, and encouraged parents 

to donate, and kids to sell lemonade to raise 

money and awareness for the cause. The 

second picture shows ICRM members participating 

in an “inter-faith dialogue” where 

the objective was to bring people together 

and promote a better understand of each 

other’s traditions and cultures. The two bottom 

pictures show ICRM members giving a 

helping hand to remove trees and debris, 

and distributing food supply in Joplin after 

the May 2011 deadly tornado. ICRM hosted 

blood drives three times as means of helping 

and providing others in need. As ICRM 

is located in an educated environment, we 

offer throughout the academic year diverse 

kinds of free courses such as Arabic and 

calligraphy. 

Ultimately, this quote from writer, Ralph 

Waldo Emerson sums up where he says, 

“Volunteering is one of the most beautiful 

compensations of life, that no man can sincerely 

try to help another without helping 

himself” 


ORGANIZATIONAL 

STRUCTURE OF ICRM 

Participation of MSA and ICRM in the international 

day 

Interview with Dr. Salah 

Taqieddin 

(Continued from Page 8) 

Dr. Yagub Ali 

T 

he Islamic Center of Rolla Missouri, also called ICRM, 

is a non-profit, Islamic, charitable and religious organization. 

This organization is strictly guided by Islamic 

principles according to the Qur’an and the Sunna (the practice 

of the prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H), consisting of what he 

said, did, recommended, or approved of in others). 

Dr. Salah went back to Jordan and when he returned he brought 

back plans for a new mosque but it was met with criticism that 

the current mosque was big enough. The committee continued 

with the plans because they wanted to provide a bigger mosque 

that would be fitting for the community in the future and would 

be big enough to serve the Muslims in cities around Rolla as well. 

This lead the committee to buy a home near the old house. 

Once all the land was purchased the plans for the new mosque 

started with Dr. Fateh Fenish in charge. In 2009, Salah returned 

to Jordan and has been coming back as a visiting professor ever 

since. 

Dr. Salah stated that people think building a house for Allah 

(SWT) is hard, but if you try Allah (SWT) will help. 

After the end of the interview we asked Dr. Salah what he hopes 

for this mosque and the community, his response was: 

He hopes to see a school for Muslim children so they can be 

raised according to Islam. He believes that the mosque has 

helped many people here in Rolla and areas around here. He 

would like to see this continue with the Muslim community 

reaching out to the Non-Muslim community and showing them 

real Islam and getting acquainted with them through school and 

volunteer work. We need to work with people of other faiths and 

teach them about Islam that way. We must respect the people in 

Rolla and serve as ambassadors of Islam. 

Any Muslim who resides in the area and complies with the 

ICRM constitution and By-Laws, is considered a general member. 

Muslims who comply with the ICRM Constitution and 

By-Laws and have paid their membership fees are eligible for 

registered membership. Only registered members have the 

right to vote and hold offices at ICRM. 

The General Assembly of ICRM consists of registered members 

of ICRM and usually meet at least twice a year. The Shura 

Council (Board of Directors) is the main governing body of the 

ICRM, responsible for safeguarding its tangible and intangible 

assets and furthering its mission as per the ICRM constitution. 

It is the final decision making authority within the ICRM, 

and develops its overall policies and strategic directions that 

is subsequently implemented in conjunction with the ICRM 

Executive Committee. The Executive Committee is tasked with 

conducting the day-to-day activities of the ICRM as detailed 

in the by-laws. The Executive Committee consists of the registered 

members and have the following positions: president, 

IT coordinator, secretary, property manager, treasurer, Da’wah 

coordinator, women’s activities coordinator, social activities 

coordinator, and, finally, education and community development 

coordinator. 

The Executive Committee members perform their entrusted 

tasks autonomously, reporting to the President. Details of their 

entrusted tasks are given in the ICRM constitution and they are 

elected for a one year term. Both the board of directors and the 

executive committee are open to the suggestions and input 

from the community at large. ICRM is proud to be a part of 

Rolla community and continues to strive to build bridges that 

foster strong and peaceful relationships. 


Celebration and food 

Eid ul-Fitr Celebration, 2010 

SOCIAL 

EVENTS 

Eid ul-Fitr Celebration, toys for kids 

Ghaith Al Shaia 

“Speech remains as 

a slave to you, but 

the moment it leaves 

your mouth, you 

become its slave.” 

Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah 

T 

he foundations of the social system of Islam rest 

on the belief that all human beings are equal and 

constitute one single fraternity. Islam is a practical 

way of life as it has responded to reality and necessity. It has also 

put a check on human tendencies and ensured balance. In the holy 

Quran, Allah says: (O mankind, WE have created you from a male and 

a female; and WE have made you tribes and sub-tribes that you may 

know one another. Verily, the most honorable among you, in the 

sight of ALLAH, is he who is the most righteous among you. Surely, 

ALLAH is All-Knowing, All-Aware) Chapter 49, Verse 13. Therefore, 

part of being a Muslim is to be positively active in your society as 

Prophet Mohammad PBUH simplified the relation of the believer 

with the society by saying: {the believers, in their love, mercy, and 

kindness to one another are like a body: if any part of it is ill, the 

whole body shares its sleeplessness and fever.}. 


soldiers celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr with their Muslim colleague in the ICRM 

Social activities at ICRM 

Here in Rolla, ICRM provided our community with a unique venue 

to practice our social life not only with Muslims from more than 30 

countries with different languages, ethnicities and backgrounds but 

even with non-Muslim brothers and sisters. It is a salad bowl of many 

different ingredients from all over the world! 

We live here as one family who consider Rolla as their hometown 

and its local community as their big family. At ICRM, we share our 

knowledge, experience, concerns, happiness and sadness social 

activities conducted at ICRM are hard to be mentioned all in one 

page as they range from daily, weekly, monthly to annual and occasional 

activities. Daily social activities as an example represented 

mainly by meeting five times a day to practice our daily prayers. 

Furthermore, the whole community along with visitors and Muslim 

travelers are gathered every week for Friday speech, prayer and 

lunch. On weekly bases too, ICRM conducts educational, entertainment 

and religious sessions for both adults and children. From 

Month to month, several activities took place such as volunteering 

in (distributing food), cleaning and maintaining ICRM facilities, fund 

raising and many other activities for the whole family. Annually, 

ICRM hosts great event of The Open House, Eid ul-Fitr celebration, 

Eid Aladha celebration and several blood drives along with the 

greatest social events of Ramadan. 

In Ramadan, we as Muslims fast for 30 days from dawn to sunset and 

we all gather in ICRM every day at sunset to enjoy the feeling serenity, 

and tranquility when we break our fast together. During each 

day of Ramadan, ICRM is shining with social stars where you will find 

volunteers arranging, cleaning, teaching and always you will find 

one family or more volunteering to cook for the whole community. 

So you can guess how many cuisine we enjoyed tasting before the 

end of Ramadan. 

Moreover, we have many other occasional social activities such as 

the wedding celebration for an American brother who converted to 

Islam and married a Moroccan Muslim. Also, we at ICRM celebrate 

the newly born babies by performing “Aqiqah”, an Islamic tradition 

which including sacrificing an animal on the occasion of a child’s 

birth and all the community gathers to dine together and congratulate 

the parents. At the end of each semester, we conduct a picnic 

for the whole community providing a great chance to welcome the 

newcomers and bid farewell for the leaving members. 

On the other hand, we announce major health issues that might 

happen to any member in order to provide a chance for the other 

community members to pray for them and visit them either at the 

hospital or at the home. Also, we gather to condolence any member 

who lost a relative or a friend and pray and ask forgiveness for him. 

In hard financial situation for anyone, we provide that person with 

his needs in full confidentiality and privacy. 

All these activities and many others are totally free of charge and 

always attended and appreciated by our Muslim community members 

are welcomed non-Muslims friends who always honored our 

social activities by their attendance and contribution providing us 

in every social event with a great opportunity to meet, eat, have fun 

and gather in a very comfortable environment that full of love and 

peace. 


EDUCATIONAL 

PROGRAMS 

S 

ince years ago the ICRM is providing an educational 

services for the Islamic community in Rolla. Among 

these educational services is the Qur’anic School 

for children. The first class was held in 2010 when Mr. Abdussalam 

Mohamed, a former petroleum engineering graduate student, set 

in a corner of the old Masjid teaching Quran for a few number of 

kids. The Qur’anic School’s goal is to teach the Muslim children 

how to recite Quran as well as memorize some surah’s through 

which children could learn some of the teachings of Islam such 

as prayers. The timing for the Qur’anic School is Friday which children 

come after school as well as their volunteer teachers to start 

classes which is about two hours. During the study, the students 

get to know each other and in the time of prayer, kids start lining 

up in a straight lines for prayer then afterwards snacks. These 

activities is to strengthen the ties between the people of the 

Muslim community in Rolla. In Ramadan, qur’anic school supervisors 

hold a competition for all students to evaluate the students’ 

level and the winners get awards. 

ALFAROUK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (AES); The idea of the Arabic 

school in Rolla (MO) started in 2009. Later, in one of the preliminary 

meetings for the Libyan Student Association (LSA), Dr. 

Mahmoud El Sharafi shared an idea of establishing an Arabic 

school providing a complete Arabic education. The main idea 

related to Arabic school is to keep the children in touch with their 

mother language. Therefore, those children who is returning back 

to their countries will not find a big gap between them and their 

fellows, especially in Arabic Language. The school opened its 

doors with only two grades (first grade, and second grade) under a 

supervision of four full time female volunteers. In 2012 the school 

was named AL- Farouk Elementary School and was completely 

managed by student volunteers who continued to provide a 

complete Arabic education in all subjects for all grades. The total 

enrollment in this year 2014-2015 is about 45 students, and about 

16 student volunteered to teach in these secessions on Sundays. 

Women Quran class has been started on 2012 when the former 

ICRM Da’wah Coordinator, Musa Albousifi, insisted to find a special 

educational program and social activity organized by women at 

the old building. He has done a nice job for arrangement with 

Quranic teacher, and with encouraging several people to bring 

their families to attend the classes. The class started with a few 

participants at the beginning. However, the class currently taking 

place at the new ICRM building every Friday at the same time 

of kids Quran class with about 12 participants, approximately. 

Women gathering at the ICRM building for social gatherin also. 

They prepare some diches from thier countries share their experience 

life in Rolla and US, cleaning the masjid, arranging women 

party, visiting sick people, and many other activities that make 

them comftable in this city. 

Abdulsalam Amri, 

Emad AbdulRasol, 

and Adel Elkurry 

Children in their classrooms 


Children and their teachers are gathering for a group picture after the Quran classes 

ISLAMIC AND GREGORIAN CALENDAR 


ICRM 

ISLAMIC CENTER OF ROLLA, MISSOURI 

Islamic Center of Rolla - Missouri or ICRM is an Islamic non-profit, charitable, religious 

organization which is strictly guided by Islamic principles according to the Qur’an and the 

Sunna (the practice of the prophet Muhammad PBUH) 

1302 N Elm St, Rolla, MO 65401 

Phone: (573) 341-7360 or 

Website: www.rollamasjid.org 

E-mail: icrm.masjid@gmail.com

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