Michigan Muslims Urged to Appeal Troy for Relinquishment of case against City’s first Mosque

The Michigan chapter of Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI) on Wednesday called upon the Musim community to support the legal hustle around the establishment of first official mosque in the city of Troy. An appeal posted on the CAIR-MI website calls on the Muslims of Michigan to support Muslims in Troy “who are at risk of losing their only chance at obtaining a place of worship within the city.”


Calls for supporting the signature campaign were fervently made during Saturdays’ taraveeh prayers, the special nightly prayers held during the Islamic month of Ramadan. 


Currently,  the city of Troy officially lists more than 60 places of worship including several churches, a temple,  a Jewish center but not a single mosque. Constrained by options,  Muslims of Troy are currently offering prayers in what can be described as an unfavorably restricted make-shift setup in a basement. The place has come to be known as Adam Islamic center. 


While prayers are being held here five times a day, includng the Friday prayers, and the Taraveeh, the special nightly congregational prayers held in the month of Ramadan, the existing setup does not favor senior citizens, and even some youth who may have breathing difficulties. “The place is humid and needs poeple to step down in the basement to offer prayers. This is not convenient by any means,  but we don’t really have any other place to worship. There are different centers in neighboring cities but zilch in Troy”, said Imam Faheem of the Tarbiyah Insitute.


The center’s management has acquired sizeable property that once housed a restaurant and a banquet hall along the Rochester Road in Troy. It is raising funds to complete the project. According to the reported statistics, $20m is required for the project but only a quarter of this has been raised so far. 


Muslims of Troy believe that the new property ow acquired by the Adam Islamic Center measuring a little over 2 acres will soon be the first official mosque in the City of troy,  Michigan.


The center’s management has made a fervent appeal to the Muslims of the city and the Michigan state in general to generously donate for this project.  “It’ll be in the interest of our generation and their generations who will have at least one place they can offer their prayers and fulfill their religions obligations, said another Muslim regular at the center.


While calls for fundraising seem to continue, the Muslims are looking upto the City of Troy with hope that it will stop pursuing the case further after the federal judge ruled in favor of the Mosque. 


 In 2018, the CAIR Michigan filed a law suit against the city of troy for indiscriminately obstructing the establishment of a mosque in Troy. 

In 2019, the US department of Justice filed a case against the Troy city for unfavorably using zoning regulations against Muslims to deny permission for a mosque to come up in the city. Muslim populace in the city hailed the decision of the Department of Justice which argued that nearly 35 other places of worship in Troy were granted permission of establishment even though they didn’t strictly confirm to such zoning codes.The city of troy’s discrimination towards a particular community was unfair, it observed.


The intervention of a federal judge have raised the hopes among the Muslims who now look up to the City of Troy with the hope that it doesn’t further challenge the ruling of the justice department.