The Pluralism Project at Harvard University

Research conducted by affiliates at Kent State University led by Dr. David W. Odell-Scott and Dr. Surinder M. Bhardwaj in 1999.

Activities and Schedule

The Islamic Society of Akron-Kent unites and serves Muslims and mosque communities throughout the area. The Weekday and Weekend Regular Prayer times are as follows:
Weekly religious ceremonies at 12:30 P.M. Fridays.
The mosque is open daily for prayer at sunrise and sunset.
The Muslim Student Association has a room for prayer in the Student Center at Kent State University during the day on weekdays.

The major festivals held at this center are The Day of Sacrifice, to commemorate the pilgrimage of Abraham, which has about 1,000-2,000 participants and the celebration concluding Ramadan which also brings in about 1,000-2,000 members.

On Saturdays and Sundays, for 4 hours there is Islamic Education for children. About 250-300 children from age 6 to 18 attend the classes. The community is excited about the building of a new mosque (on Steels Corners Rd) with plans for an Islamic elementary school and possibly a high school. Also a quarterly newsletter is published by the Islamic Society of Akron-Kent.

History

The Kent Mosque community was founded in the early 1980's. They moved into their present facility in 1984. Before this, religious ceremonies were held in houses and apartments of community members. In 1996, the Kent Mosque merged with other communities in the Akron area to form the Islamic Society of Akron-Kent. The new facility (on Steels Corners Rd) will form the center of the Islamic Society, though the community still plans to keep the Kent Mosque open to service students and Kent residents. One early problem the community ran into was that the building was not originally oriented towards Mecca.

Demographics

This mosque is a mixture of students and community members because of its proximity to the university.

Description of the Center

The building formerly a housed a Christian denomination (the Church of the Nazorean), and was purchased by the Muslim community in 1984. The mosque is located on Crain Avenue, in Kent, within walking distance of Kent State. Gender is separated during a worship service; males worship on the first floor, while the females worship in the basement. Since the church was not originally oriented towards Mecca, new carpet was installed to help with prayer.

New Building

The building of a new 3-part mosque on Steels Corners Rd. will help unite the Islamic Society of Akron-Kent. One part of the facility will be for prayer, one for a community center, and one for a school. This building will house a larger number of people for celebration and worship.