CHAPTER 6
Early Attempts at Organization
In 1952, in spite of the fact that they didn't always agree, the two generations, immigrant and American born, merged to re-organize the Arab American Banner Society with newly elected officers. Meetings took place twice a month with an average of between 6-12 members in attendance.
From 1952 until 1963, business meetings were held in a neighborhood restaurant, Ma's Lunch, owned by one of the founding families, the Ismael Hassans. Jum a prayers (congregational), id prayers (holiday), and Janaza prayers (burial) were held in peoples' homes. After the meeting, informal religious lessons were conducted. By informing the Muslims of their Islamic obligations to educate their children, to pray together, etc., the leadership established the need for a greater community cohesiveness.
In the pre-building phase from 1957-1963, much was accomplished by the core of community leaders to raise money and draw attention to their group. For example, the Arabic Secretary, Haj Muhammad Omar (1st generation), promoted the Society in two Arabic/English Newspapers circulated in America: As-Sameer, A Daily Arabic Newspaper, Largest in the New World, Est. 1929, Brooklyn, New York; and Nahdat Al-Arab, Detroit, Michigan.
Publicity targeted at other Muslims in America generated donations (i.e. the American Moslem Society of Dearborn, Michigan, 1963) and attracted scholars (Ahmed Sakr, Mahmoud Ayoub) and dignitaries (the Cultural Attaches of Kuwait, the Sudan, and the United Arab Republic).
The Society continued to make charitable contributions to all parts of the Muslim world where disaster had occurred: floods in Bangladesh and Jordan, earthquakes in Iran, a tornado in Pakistan, etc.
In 1957, in response to the Sinai War, the Society donated $1500 to displaced Egyptian refugees and orphans. In receipt of that donation, the President of Egypt, Gamal Abd al-Nasir sent a letter of thanks.
In 1961, King Saud came to Boston for an eye operation. The Society was invited by the state legislature to send representatives to his reception. During the King's recuperation, members paid him a visit in the hospital. Mohamed Omar wrote a poem for the occasion which the King asked him to read aloud. id cards were exchanged in the upcoming holidays. In February of 1962, King Saud donated $5000 to the Society for their mosque.
During this period before the building, the founders of the small Muslim community in Quincy were plagued by lack of funds. Outside of the $5000 from King Saud, the primary source of funding, evidenced in the treasurer's books from 1952-1962, came through donations and pledges from the seven founding families.
The American born Muslims also relied on donations from their business associates, lawyers, doctors, priests, rabbis, and neighbors. Activities, such as the annual picnic, raffles, auctions, dances, whist parties, rummage, toy sales, and cosmetic sales, were open to non-Muslims and modeled after "church" fund raising activities.
The muharrajan was the largest fund raiser of all. It gave Muslims from distant locations a chance to congregate annually and pledge money towards the mosque. A large community of Turks who lived northwest of Boston came by bus every year with their families and friends.
Throughout these formative years, the founders of the Society recognized that local community involvement was necessary for the survival of any institution in America. They attended interfaith community events held by the Sons of Lebanon, and formed their own bowling league.
Profiles of Leadership
By the early 60's, there existed a unified community with committed leadership that spanned two generations. They were striving for a symbol of their religious community, "working towards something invisible," as one founder put it.
Although he was the youngest of the immigrant group, Mohamed Omar, was the only literate one. He was self-taught in religious history and the Qur'an. He is remembered by his daughter for saying: "I studied under my walnut tree."
His peers depended on him to cite the moon at the beginning and end of Ramadan, to counsel, to marry and bury them, and to read and write all their correspondence in Arabic. Because of these qualities which were recognized by the community, Mr. Omar was the imam (leader) by ijma (consensus). He knew that education was one way to unite the community. He was the first "official" imam and served until 1982. At that time, he retired from all duties, leaving the job to a formally trained imam from Lebanon.
In the second generation, there were socially integrated, indigenous leaders with vision and perseverance. Aziz Abraham, president for eleven years, understood bureaucracy and diplomacy. He was able to diffuse arguments inside the community. As a businessman, he was familiar with the "old boy" society of American politics. As president, he attended local political
activities at the State House and the inauguration of the Mayor and City Council. On another occasion, Sam Hassan attended an event called, "Meet Our Neighbor Night" organized by the Congregation Adas Shalom Brotherhood. The main speaker was Lt. Governor Francis W. Sargent whose speech was entitled, "Brotherhood and Public Service."
Meticulous about the treasury, the writing of the constitution, the Robert's Rules of Order, and the minutes of Board meetings, was Ms. Fatima Allie. Ms. Allie was treasurer for ten years and secretary for ten years. A teacher and school principal by profession, Ms. Allie's professionalism heightened the profile and efficiency of the organization. Her accurate record keeping made it possible to write this history.
Sam Hassan, alternating with Abraham as president, was actually president for nine years and treasurer for six years. Because he was well-respected, he was able to unite the community. His peers report that it was his strong leadership abilities that kept the organization on a straight path that never swerved from its goal.
To Build or Not to Build
At the heart of their financial problems was an impasse. Should they build anew or buy an already existing building? If this question was answered, it raised another: Should they build with whatever money was available, or wait until they had saved enough money to finance the whole project? In 1961, an ambitious decision was made to level the house at 470 South Street and build anew. At the time, they had $5000.
In 1962, they hired a local architect, Joseph Donahue, to design a mosque. Mr. Abraham consulted a lawyer, Dimitri Homsy, a member of the Sons of Lebanon, to study the Constitution and By-Laws of the Society. Mr. Homsy, who donated his services, returned that a new corporation had to be formed with new by-Laws and constitution.
The administration of the Islamic Center of New England was organized with a Board of eight directors and four officers. Meetings would be conducted according to Robert's Rules of Order. It has been estimated that there were only about three or four mosques built in the country at this time.
When the impasse was broken, the Society's fund raising efforts gained momentum. As a result of pledges and donations, the bank balance was nearly $20,000 by 3/31/63. The membership was still only 44 people.
Due to the size of contractors' bids and a revised higher cost of the building ($50,000), the idea of taking out a small mortgage came up but was resisted because of the issue of interest which is forbidden in Islam. Work was started on the building in the spring of 1963. Pressured to make payments to the contractor for the work in progress, members finally succumbed to the idea of taking out a mortgage. It was the exact amount owed to the contractor (approx.$10,000), who completed the work in February, 1964.
The list of guests invited to the building dedication in October, 1964 included: representatives from the Quincy Council of Churches, all state and local officials, four Imams from Detroit, one from New York, and the Director of the Islamic Associations of the United States and Canada. The main speaker was, Sheik Mohamad Jawad Chirri, Director of the Islamic Center of Detroit, Michigan.
The Center of Attention
Throughout the sixties, the Center was inundated by requests for financial and informational help from other Islamic groups trying to start up. Requests came from small groups in Springfield, Lowell, Boston, and as far away as Houston. Travelling to New Jersey and Connecticut, the leaders of the Center (Sam Hassan and Aziz Abraham) gave speeches about how to build a mosque.
Mr. Abraham sought support and acknowledgement from other Islamic organization in America. In the early sixties, they joined the Federation of Islamic Associations in the U.S. and Canada (FIA). From 1963-1981, the Center sent delegates to the annual FIA convention. The FIA, founded in 1952 by Lebanese Americans from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, kept the Muslims abreast of the growth of Islam in America, sponsored Youth Camps, established full-time accredited schools, monitored the media, and encompassed nearly 220 Muslim-related groups throughout the country.
Mr. Dawud Assad, president of the FIA from 1975-1977, relied heavily on the support of groups like the Islamic Center of New England. He became friends with Mr. Sam Hassan when they served as first and second vice presidents in 1967. When Assad was president in 1977, Mr. Abraham became treasurer.
Mr. Assad's relationship with the Quincy group culminated in later years when he became the Director of the Muslim World League and helped them to find a trained imam. The Muslim World League is a non-governmental organization representing nearly 50 Muslim countries at the United Nations. It gets 85% of its funding from Saudi Arabia and spends millions of dollars each year sponsoring trained imams for Islamic organizations in the U.S. and Canada. It also provides Islamic organizations with copies of the Qur'an in both Arabic and English. Currently, it sponsors 22 full-time imams in the U.S. and 11 in Canada. The Quincy group of founding families brought their young children to the new mosque. They inspired programs which were geared towards American traditions and holidays. For example, on May 2, 1965, to celebrate the Islamic New Year, children were given May baskets (May Day is celebrated in America on May 1st). On Memorial Day of that same year, the Center held prayers for all its deceased members. Halloween Parties and Record Hops were organized with the hope of re-capturing the interest of the American Muslim youth.
However, efforts to interest the young people in Islam and in each other failed. The group was still too small to present opportunities for meeting prospective marriage partners. For these young people, interfaith and interethnic marriages were common and even preferred over the tradition of their grandparents who had arranged marriages for their children from among the seven founding families.