What is Islam?
By Leah Miller

Origins & Beliefs of the Islamic Religion

“There are between 1.1 billion and 1.8 billion Muslims, making Islam the second largest religion in the world, after Christianity,” records Adherents.com, a site dedicated to national and world religion statistics. As one of the largest and fastest growing religions in the world, Islam is often overlooked by the masses in such non-traditional areas for the religion as in America; specifically Fort Collins, Colo.; however, growing Muslim communities, such as the one that the Islamic Center of Fort Collins caters to, cannot be ignored simply because of the general unawareness of the public.

To sum it up in a few very broad sentences, Islam is a monotheistic religion based on the doctrines of the prophet Muhammad and taught through the Qur’an, which purports complete submission to a unique G-d, Allah. Believers of the Islam religion are known as Muslims, which means “one who submits (to G-d)” according to L. Gardet and J. Jomier in the Encyclopaedia of Islam Online. It should be noted that Muslims do not deem Muhammad as the founder of a new religion, but as the restorer of the original monotheistic faith.

As with all religions, Islamic practices vary greatly, but all include abiding by the Five Pillars:
o Shahadatain: profession of sole faith to Allah and Muhammad.
o Salaah: daily prayer to strengthen one’s belief.
o Salaatul-Fajr. (The Dawn Prayer)
o Salaatul-Dhuhr. (The Noon Prayer)
o Salaatul-Asr. (The Afternoon Prayer)
o Salaatul-Maghrib. (The Sunset Prayer)
o Salaatul-Isha. (The Evening Prayer)
o Zakaah: practice of charitable giving to the needy
o Sawm: fasting during Ramadan of not only food and drink, but sexual intercourse, evil intentions and desires as well.
o Hajj: the pilgrimage to Mecca (every Muslim is required to make the journey at least once in their lifetime, provided they are physically able).

What is the ICFC?
By Leah Miller

History & Community of the Islamic Center of Fort Collins

Although their current mosque was appropriated in March 1980, the Islamic Center of Fort Collins (ICFC) reports that Muslims have lived in Fort Collins since 1952 and the community has grown tremendously since then, mostly due to the fact of Muslim students coming to attend Colorado State University (CSU). When these Muslim students come to CSU, and subsequently the ICFC, “they need a place to express and fulfill their religious needs,” says Jamal Ahmed, an Intel engineer and regular volunteer at the ICFC.

After meeting as small student groups for several years, a few Muslim professors came to CSU and the Muslim community organized themselves in a Muslim fellowship. Utilizing rented rooms in Old Town and the Lory Student Center on the CSU campus, members of the Muslim fellowship began regularly praying and interacting with one another. As the community grew, they pulled together to buy an old church located at 900 Peterson St. and converted it into a mosque (also known by its Arabic name masjid).

The ICFC is not only a place for prayer though, it is a community center filled with members devoted to one another through social gatherings. Many in the community participate in the local interfaith organization that brings together Christians, Jews and Muslims to learn about one another’s religion and customs. “It is an opportunity to know each other,” says Ahmed.
They also organize charity events, potlucks, and happenings with the Muslim Student Association at CSU. The center relies on the help of the community through volunteer acts only; there are no paid positions.

According to Ahmed, only 100-150 people are recorded as actual members of the ICFC, but roughly there are 1,200-1,500 Muslims in the northern Colorado area and varying numbers of Muslims attend prayer each week as well as other events.

Who are Muslims?
By Leah Miller

Muslim Denominations

“In Islam, there are the Sunni and the Shi’a,” says Ahmed. “They both believe in the same G-d, Allah; in the same book, the Qur’an; and Muhammad as the last prophet.” The boiled down version of the difference between these two denominations is that the Sunni believe Muhammad is the last prophet and therefore the last ‘leader’ of the greater Muslim community; the Shi’a believe that although there are no more prophets after Muhammad, there are Imams to help define their Muslim lifestyle and religious views more clearly.

Sunni Muslims are the largest denomination of Islam. The word ‘Sunni’ comes from the word ‘Sunnah’, which means the teachings and actions of the prophet Muhammad. The term Sunni then represents those Muslims who follow or maintain the Sunnah of Muhammad. Sunni Muslims believe that Muhammad died without appointing a successor to lead the Muslim community.

Shi`a Muslims believe that Imams after Muhammad are similar to prophets in the sense that they are also chosen by G-d. They regard Ali ibn Abu Talib, the cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad, as chosen by Allah to be the direct successor and leader of the Muslim community. Shi’a Muslims consider him as the first Imam, which continued as a hereditary position through Fatimah and Ali's descendants.

“Both ways are true,” says Ahmed, “but you choose which to follow.”

Holy Days
by Leah Miller

The ninth month of the Islamic calendar marks the time in which Muslims believe that the Qur’an was revealed. This month is known as Ramadan and it is one of the most important holidays in Islam. It is marked by four weeks of “fasting during sunlight hours,” says Ahmed, as well as charity and self-accountability. It concludes with a weekend of celebration and social gatherings called Eid ul-Fitr. This month is respected as the most blessed holiday and “creates one identity within Muslims,” says Ahmed.

Approximately 70 days after the end of Ramadan, the religious holiday Eid ul-Adha occurs, which also marks the day after pilgrims conducting Hajj (or the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia) return. Eid ul-Adha celebrates Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son for Allah.

Muslim Culture in Fort Collins
By Eldad Sharon

Jamal Ahmed bows toward the holy city of Mecca as he performs his afternoon prayer. After completing his absolutions, he calmly walks out of the empty prayer room.

As he puts his shoes on to leave the Mosque, he walks back into daily American life, where his religious beliefs differ from the culture that surrounds him.

For many Shi'a Muslims, especially ones like Ahmed who come to Fort Collins from abroad, the Islamic Center of Fort Collins on the corner of E. Locust St. and Peterson St. is not only a house of worship, but also a place where their culture and its values are kept alive.

"It's the whole culture not just the religion," said Rashed Al-Mlhannadi, sophomore electrical engineering major "we came here just after we finished high school and even college life is different. We had to start all over again."

Al-Mlhannadi learned that he had to balance a social and academic life with a high moral standard; while being faraway from home and in a country taboos as so close at hand. That's were the Mosque came in, according to Isra’a Belgasem, senior physiology major and vice-president of the Muslim Student Association at CSU, the mosque is a good tool to help international students.

Many international students make connections with other Muslims in the community by attending the ICFC, which helps with the adjustment to a new culture and builds a support net for the minority population.

Ibrahim Al-Fadhala, sophomore electrical engineering major, feels that the mosque helps him hold on to his culture. Like many other Muslim students, Al-Fadhala use a small prayer room in the Lory Student Center when classes or studying conflict with his prayer times. Yet he attends Friday afternoon prayer, the holiest prayer, at the mosque.

One mosque in a town as large as Fort Collins is a stark contrast to many of the cities in Muslim countries, where mosques are as common as Latter-day Saint's churches in Salt Lake City. Some Sunni students also have said that they don't feel welcome at the predominantly Shi'a ICFC given the sect's inherent differences.

According to Ahmed, everyone is welcome regardless of their personal choice of denomination, though he is aware that Sunnis are not normally in attendance.

Steps of the Prayer
By Eldad Sharon

In Islam prayer isn't a motionless meditation, this resembles the first half of a Sun Salutations of a popular yoga series. The Salaat or Islamic Ritual Prayer is composed of six basic motions, each of which is its own sura or holy verse.

"It begins with saying 'Allaahu akbar' or 'God is great' showing that your intentions are to pray to God and nothing else," said Firas Al-Mohasen, junior mathematics major.

'Allaahu akbar' is said at the end of each step and at the end of the Salaat.

Calling for God's attention is done standing upright, facing Mecca. While still upright worshipers recite the first verse of the Qur'an, which is a pledge of allegiance to God, followed by any verse they want from the text.

Then the individual drops their hands along their legs until the fingers reach
their knees and their back is straight. In this position "Subhanna rabbiyal 'Azeem" or "Holy is my Lord, the Magnificent" is repeated three times.

While coming back to an upright standing position "Sami' allaahu liman hamidah" or "Allah listens to him who praises Him." is said. The next pose and possibly the most recognizable is called Sudjood (Prostration) in which the individuals go to their knees and perform a complete bow bringing their forehead and nose to the ground.

"They say 'Subhaana rabbiyal 'Alaa', which acknowledges him (God) as the one who created all of this (world),” said Al-Mohasen.

After which they rise upright on their knees, say 'Allaahu akbar' and go back into the Sudjood. This is the last step in the rakat or series.

Different prayers have differing amounts of rakats associated with them: there are two in the morning, four at noon, four in the afternoon, three at sunset and again four at the last prayer of the day.

For Muslims, prayer is a defining characteristic of devotion to the faith. According to Al-Mohasen it shows that Muslims are sacrificing time from their daily lives to be with God.

"We can be strict Muslims, some of us are not that way, but I have to pray
five times a day or I am not Muslim," said Yasir Al-Aosar, sophomore electrical engineering major

New Mosque Offers More Space
By Larissa Metcalf

Lake Street mosque will accommodate growing Muslim population.

“If you came on a Saturday, you would feel bad for us,” says Jamal Ahmed, a volunteer at the Islamic Center of Fort Collins (ICFC).

He is referring to the fact that in the years since the ICFC was first created it has been steadily growing and can no longer comfortably accommodate all of their members.

The ICFC has been conducting fundraising in order to build a new mosque which will be located on the west end of Lake Street next to the church. They need to reach $1.3 million to build the mosque and, so far, almost $500,000 has been raised.

Ahmed estimates that hundreds come through the mosque at some point every year despite the fact that an accurate count has never been done. Now, as more families are bringing their children to be educated in the ways of Islam, the mosque fills to the brim every Saturday.

The new mosque will have the prayer area that will face in the direction of Mecca. The prayer area will be arranged to have a lower floor and an upper balcony with the balcony reserved for women so that everyone can pray without distraction. There will be an outdoor area for children to play and adults to meet. A new school will be built in to allow space for the studying that is difficult with the limited space of the current mosque.

All of the money for the project has been raised through donations. “We raised $100,000 [in one] weekend,” says Philip Howard, the vice-president of the ICFC. To see the plans for the new mosque or to donate money, visit the Islamic Center of Fort Collins Website~ ICFC.ORG.

Muslim Women
By Larissa Metcalf

One woman’s experience during her first visit to a mosque.

When we first arrived at the Islamic Center of Fort Collins (ICFC), Eldad Sharon and I entered through the main doorway into a small mud room with shelves lining the walls where some shoes already sat. Following custom, I placed my shoes under the bottom-most shelf and I realized mine were the only women’s shoes.

We were shown inside by Philip Howard, the vice-president of the ICFC. He showed us into the large, airy prayer area where large windows let sunlight stream in. There were cords strung across the carpet acting as directional aides towards Mecca when praying. After I realized I was the only woman, a man came up to me and politely explained that women usually pray in the basement to allow everyone their own worship space without feeling uncomfortable. As Howard’s wife, Monique Cover, later told me, “They separate the women and the men…so that people can concentrate on their prayers. People aren’t looking around at other people.”

I left the men’s worship space and found myself in another mud room with a staircase on my left. In the women’s prayer space, the lines to denote the direction of Mecca were again present but this time, they were drawn onto the green carpet with a Sharpie. The ICFC website describes the space, saying it “threatens the lives of the sisters and children that use its deteriorating basement for prayer.”

As soon as I stepped into the room, an older woman greeted me and showed me to a seat against the wall. When I sat down, there were only four women in the room. As more arrived, they would first take a moment to pray in the middle of the room and then move to one of the walls to find a seat.

When a voice suddenly crackled over a speaker, everyone went quiet as we listened to the half Arabic, half English speech that was given. During the 30 minute service, the women sat reverently while their children were allowed to play as they wished. At the end, the signal was given for everyone to stand and participate in the group prayer. As the women stood up, the sound of the men standing upstairs sounded like the rumble of thunder.

After a few minutes of prayer, the service was over. With the signal of the end, the women turned and properly greeted one another. After being warmly greeted myself by some of the women, I took my leave to go meet Sharon upstairs.