Michigan’s oldest mosque will be reopened on Friday, April 29, in the city of Detroit after a five-year revamp operation.

The expansion of the mosque was urgently needed to accommodate the increasing number of Muslim worshipers in the city, according to the Detroit News Web site.

The American Muslim Society has raised $1.8 million for the construction works of the mosque to double its size.

“It was supposed to be more than $1.8 million, you know?” said Mahdi Ali, the society’s president. “But because of the volunteers who spent their time on the mosque, it cost only that amount.”

The Muslim leader paid tribute to the volunteers for their priceless contributions.

“You would not believe how the people worked. I have one picture of people carrying stones on their back. Everyone did what they could.”

The expansion included a new library and media room, conference rooms and 16 classrooms to teach 600 students Arabic and Islam during two daily shifts.

The mosque’s new facilities will be open to both Muslims and non-Muslims in the country.

“Everyone is accepted, here,” Ali said.

“If you are just curious about Islam, come and sit in the new library and read our books in Arabic, English and Spanish for Muslims and non-Muslims and watch some of our videos.”

The opening ceremonies will be attended by Governor Jannifer Granholm, US Senator Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., Dearborn Mayor Michael Guido and a host of other officials and dignitaries.

The Michigan’s mosque was first established in an old school in Highland Park in 1924 by Muslim families in Metro Detroit.

Building Bridges

Meanwhile, the Muslim Unity Center in Bloomfield Hills will host an open house this weekend to celebrate the recently completed renovations.

The open house will also feature an exhibit of artwork by local Muslim artists, traditional food, children’s activities, tours of the facility and lectures on Islam.

The 4.3-million-dollar project included adding a new 2,500-square-foot prayer hall and a banquet center as well as expanding the basketball court.

The new two-story prayer hall will serve to accommodate the increasing number of the Muslim prayers in the area.

Muslims said the project was aimed at promoting relations with non-Muslims in the community.

“One of the goals of this center is to build bridges between Muslims and non-Muslims,” Imam Mohammad Musa, the center’s director, told Detroit News.

“We’d like to build bridges to better understand each other,” he maintained.

Mouhib Ayas, the organizer of the open house, agreed.

“We are part of this community and have a contribution to give to the community. We have our own heritage that we are proud of”.

A recent nation-wide poll, conducted by the Cornell University, showed that at least 44 percent of the Americans back curbing Muslims’ civil rights and monitoring their places of worship.

Nearly 57 percent of American Muslims polled by CAIR complained of having experienced bias or discrimination since the September 11 attacks and 87 percent know of a fellow Muslim who experienced discrimination.

A May 2004 report released by the US Senate Office Of Research concluded that Arab Americans and the Muslim community in the US have taken the brunt of the Patriot Act and other federal powers applied in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.