Talk:List of mosques in the United States

Trimming down

This list must be trimmed down! It's gotten out of control, the AfD closure notwithstanding. Bearian (talk) 22:16, 28 July 2014 (UTC)

Hi, i came here also to start a section like this. Per User:Bearian's comment in the AFD discussion (closed as Keep, located at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/List of mosques in the United States), I agree that the list should be trimmed down. Not every meeting place of muslims in the United States should be listed. Reducing this list would be consistent with List of Presbyterian churches in the United States and other lists of places of worship in the U.S. But, what should define when a mosque is notable and worth listing here? For one, if the mosque building is architecturally or historically notable, e.g. if it is listed on a local or national register of historic sites, then the mosque is notable and probably deserves a separate article, beyond being included in this list. But there can be mosques which are notable for other reasons, documented by coverage. To start, maybe editors could try to assert some importance about each mosque, with sourcing, in a comment/notes column? Then after some time, the entries that don't get any such assertions, could be dropped? The ones dropped could be listed in a section here, with call for anyone else to restore any one if sources about it can be found. Would this work? --doncram 23:00, 28 July 2014 (UTC)

My own list is at User:Bearian/Standards#Notability_of_historic_churches. Note the inclusion of "mosque". Many of the newer houses of worship and youth centers would have to be culled from this list. Bearian (talk) 23:03, 28 July 2014 (UTC)

Hi Bearian, that is a good set of notes on notability of historic churches. There can be mosques included here which are not historic, too, but are important/notable for other reasons. Actually Bearian your list includes some criteria that don't deal with historic importance, your list is a bit more general.

In a discussion section above, someone mentioned removing phone numbers, which was apparently done (which is good to have done). Also Zip codes are not encyclopedic. Also Post office box numbers are not encyclopedic, and a mosque having just a P.O. box is an indicator that the mosque is not encyclopedically significant, IMHO.

I was just looking at one item, the Atlanta, Georgia one with external link to http://masjidabubakrofatlanta.com/. I gotta say, that is inadequate. It is a link to a Wordpress blog page, which anyone can open, and the main page is not even started, it says "Enter your first Wordpress note here" or something like that. Several of the subpages are not developed either. It is not encyclopedic to provide a poor link like this. A quick search on Google and Google news provides no relevant hits for me, besides the wordpress blog page. So I would say this should be dropped (possibly the entry moved to a section of dropped sites here on the Talk page). --doncram 23:12, 28 July 2014 (UTC)

I moved the huge directory-like list to an "old big list" location, at Talk:List of mosques in the United States/oldbiglist, and replaced it by a table of about 10 of the most notable ones, split out from the List of mosques in the Americas article. Note the "old big list" is not deleted, and it is not in mainspace (it is a Talk subpage, within Talk space). So it remains available as a reference and it is not hurting anything, is not in violation of any policies. I plan to draw from it as I work to expand the new shorter list to cover other notable mosques, and I welcome others' help. --doncram 13:25, 28 February 2015 (UTC)

@Doncram: the list that you trimmed down is back up.--Peaceworld 05:44, 7 October 2015 (UTC)

Peaceworld111, thank you for the notice, and thank you for your efforts apparent in history of this article.

To Waldorfbp, your edits asserting that Peaceworld111 has been vandalizing the article (such as this diff) are unjustified. And they amount to wp:NPA personal attacks and wp:BATTLEGROUND behavior, when you repeat such obviously untrue and malicious things, without having the decency to discuss at the Talk page. I invite you to READ THIS TALK PAGE including this section and 2 following sections, and discuss here. However, Wikipedia guidelines and policies are clear; a massive "useful" list of directory-type information DOES NOT BELONG. I will assume good faith that you are not aware of Wikipedia guidelines and policies, up to now. But please read up and please discuss here. Please note that one required practice in Wikipedia is that you must discuss content changes at Talk pages and work with other editors to come to a consensus, if there are disagreements. --doncram 18:55, 7 October 2015 (UTC)

Notability criteria

The current list is just a directory, not encyclopedic. See wp:NOTDIR. This needs to be trimmed down to fewer, more significant mosques. User:Bearian's personal criteria for Wikipedia-notability of historic church buildings is:

A church (or temple, synagogue, abbey, convent, or mosque) building is notable if it has three or more of these factors:

• It is a National Historic Site, e.g. St. Paul's Church National Historic Site, or equivalent in the jurisdiction.
• It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
• It was designed by a notable architect, and/or is notable for its architecture.
• It has had two or more notable congregants.
• It is notable for its church organ, choir, or its music programme.
• It has been notably large for its denomination, either in the size of the buildings or its congregation numbers.
• It is the site of a major annual liturgical commemoration, or originator of a holy person's feast, or has been a major place of pilgrimage, beyond mere local interest.
• It is a cathedral or basilica in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, or similarly large denomination; or the seat of a chief rabbi.
• A major synod, or historically significant election of a bishop, was held therein.
• A saint, or other notable holy person, worshipped or preached therein.
• A significant icon or holy item has been housed therein.

In general, any mosque that meets general wp:GNG general notability guidelines is Wikipedia notable, or if its building(s) are architecturally or historically significant, or if the mosque as an organization of people is significant. Where to start? Tackle Alabama, the first state alphabetically? Hmm, i'll start with New York State. I'll try adding a notes / notability column to the table for New York State, i.e. List of mosques in the United States#New York. --doncram 05:30, 9 January 2015 (UTC)

UPDATE: Actually i proceeded by trying to expand/develop the Alaska items instead. And pretty much figured out that the Anchorage mosque seems notable, while other AK mosques seem not notable, to me. But eventually i chose to move the "old big list" out to a Talk sub-page, and to re-start working from a table moved in from List of mosques in the Americas. I've further added mosques that do have articles already (i.e. appeared in category:Mosques in the United States), and the Anchorage one, and some more supported by sources added to the intro discussion. Some of the mosques having Wikipedia articles currently may not really be notable; others clearly are. So, the resulting current list is better than before, but is still a bit random in terms of what it includes vs. does not. It's still appropriate to try here to define criteria for inclusion of mosques into this list. --doncram 00:43, 3 March 2015 (UTC)

Unfortunately, pretty much all of the mosques here in Nebraska are not notable because in many cases, they were founded and have been funded by refugees - many whom are lucky to arrive here with the clothes on their back (not bashing refugees or anything - please don't get me wrong... talking about emergency visas, etc...). Most here are houses, buildings or old churches that have been converted into mosques (I know of one mosque here in Lincoln that is fundraising for a mosque that really looks like a mosque, if that makes any sense >< ~)... so basically, what I am saying, is - notability to some may not be notable to others?... or not to judge a book by it's cover??? So complicated >< ~.....

Anyways, I've restored the Nebraska list as is current on the talk subpage. Scanning the talk page here, not sure if consensus has been reached or not on what is notable... but if or whenever it is, hopefully one of the mosques here in Nebraska might make it on to the notability list, depending on what notable is. Ah well, anyways, until later ;) ~ Hanyou23 (talk) 05:58, 14 October 2015 (UTC)

Thanks Hanyou23. Consensus on notability is not really set, but I am suggesting that there has to be at least some source(s) available about a mosque besides mere directory listings. I think it would be reasonable to assume that at least one mosque per U.S. state is deemed notable, as the oldest/biggest or most salient in a state. Out of the Nebraska items at Talk:List of mosques in the United States/oldbiglist#Nebraska, I am not sure which one is the most salient. I have browsed looking for information about several of them and/or for info about mosques in the state as a whole. It appears there may not be a purpose-built mosque building yet for any of them, but rather they are currently small communities that worship in a house or somewhere else? Do you have an opinion which stands out more than others?

Also, it's interesting to see your post at User talk:Waldorfbp. I had noticed the editor recently asserting they had joined wikipedia several years ago to work on this list-article (and others), which seems to be simply not true (they did not come near this list-article until recently); their having copied your wording helps explain how the odd assertion got there. --doncram 19:38, 14 October 2015 (UTC)

history material removed from lead/overall section

The following material was removed at least temporarily, by me, as I tried to reorganize the intro / history material into chronological order.

Some or all of it should be worked back into the article, but there are some issues:

• which references support which facts is not clear to me in some cases. I don't have the Queen et al 1996 "Encyclopedia of American Religious History" source. I hope the Ghazali source is still on-line, but I have not consulted it yet.
• claims of "oldest mosque" either contradict claims now in the article, or their wording is inexact and more narrowly qualifying claims is needed

(BEGINNING of removed material)

Overview

Bosnian Muslims were early leaders in the establishment of Chicago’s Muslim community. In 1906, they established Dzemijetul Hajrije (The Benevolent Society) of Illinois to preserve the community’s religious and national traditions as well as to provide mutual assistance for funerals and illness. The organization established chapters in Gary, Indiana, in 1913, and Butte, Montana, in 1916, and is the oldest existing Muslim organization in the United States.

Retrospectively, Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims) in Chicago, Illinois opened the first Islamic Sunday School in 1906. In 1915 what is most likely the first American mosque was founded by Albanian Muslims in Biddeford, Maine. A Muslim cemetery still exists there. The Ahmadiyya run Al-Sadiq Mosque, first commissioned in 1922 is the oldest standing mosque in the United States. The Ross Masjid in North Dakota was founded by Syrian Muslims in 1929, there is still a cemetery nearby. The first building built specifically to be a mosque is established in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 1934. In 1945 a mosque existed in Dearborn, Michigan, home to the largest Arab-American population in the U.S. Construction of mosques sped up in the 1920s and 1930s, and by 1952, there were over 20 mosques. Although the first mosque was established in the U.S. in 1915, relatively few mosques were founded before the 1960s. Eighty-seven percent of mosques in the U.S. were founded within the last three decades according to the Faith Communities Today (FACT) survey.

References

(END of removed material)

Okay, i note the Ghazali source is dated August 4, 2001 at bottom of its webpage, so added that to reference above. I see it partly supports the 1915 Maine mosque claim, saying just: "The first mosque in America was probably build by Albanian Muslims in 1915 in Maine." So I deduce that the "Biddleford" location and the fact of a Muslim cemetery existing must have come from the Queen et al Encyclopedia source. I'm adding that assertion and references to the article now. --doncram 14:40, 28 February 2015 (UTC)

Baitul items

I just removed three items from the article, for reason that they are red-links currently and notability is not supported by any description or references. They are:

Name	Photo	Location	State	Year	G	Remarks
Baitul Samee		Houston	Texas	?	AMJ
Baitul Ahad		Cleveland	Ohio	?	AMJ
Baitul Jaamay		Chicago	Illinois	?	AMJ

No prejudice against restoring them if/when notability asserted and supported. --doncram 13:43, 6 March 2015 (UTC)

Islamic center in Starkville, Mississippi

In this August 14 diff editor Coriantumr15 added a redlink item Islamic Center of Mississippi-Starkville. Coriantumr15, can you please discuss here, and/or add to the item in the article, about why you think this is notable. I haven't searched myself yet, and believe it could well be notable, but the onus is upon you to support the addition. If it is notable as the largest or earliest Islamic center or mosque in Mississippi please say so. But there needs to be an assertion of notability and at least one source provided, for items to be added here. I'll pause for at least a few days now, but if there is not discussion and development, I will plan to remove the item. Sincerely, --doncram 19:09, 7 October 2015 (UTC)

All notable mosques in the list are verifiable

All the mosques listed in the list are not only physical structures specifically meant for use as mosques or Islamic Schools in the United States but also verifiable by various sources. [posted by Waldorfbp]

I'm sorry, Waldorfbp, that's not the standard for inclusion into a Wikipedia list. Have you read the discussion sections above. --doncram 14:15, 8 October 2015 (UTC)

Waldorfbp, Okay here are the first few that you put into the list:

Name	State	City	Remarks
AIEC of Fatima Zahra at Birmingham	Alabama	Birmingham	(Shia) 1736 28th Avenue South, Birmingham, AL 35209
BIS Hoover Crescent Islamic Center	Alabama	Hoover	2524 Hackberry Lane, Hoover, AL 35226

These may possibly be notable and worth including in a list. But can you explain why you think these two are notable already, or would you do some work now to develop their items, using sources. Your edit asserted there are sources. I hope you mean more sources than merely a directory like this "mosque-locator". You do not believe that each and every mosque merely listed on the internet or in any phone book should be included in Wikipedia, do you? While no one asserts that each and every worship-place of other religions should be. See WP:LSC about selection criteria for lists. No other religion asserts that they are exempt from this guideline.)

• About AIEC of Fatima Zahra at Birmingham, I see it is also listed in "Salatomatic.com", a guide to Islamic mosques and schools, which runs like a wiki--anyone can open an account and then add items and reviews of them. It informs us that the AIEC has " oom open for individual prayer; Multicultural; Arabic (w/translation) services; Partial barrier separating genders; Adequate restrooms; Parking available; Wheelchair accessible." All of that is useful information for persons looking for an Islamic place of worship in that area, but the info is well-provided by Salatomatic.com. You don't want to duplicate all that, do you? To me this looks like merely a directory item. In the past AFD about this list-article, it was argued per wp:NOTDIR that the list should be deleted. I want to support the list, not drag it down. I see no useful source or information about this item so think it should be simply deleted. What do you think about this one?
• About the BIS Hoover Crescent Islamic Center in particular, say, I see that it has a website, and that its history page says it was started in 1990, and in 2004 started a cemetery, and so on. There is this "B-metro" article. There is a "Bhamwiki" article about it (Bhamwiki is another wiki that anyone can edit in, not regarded as a reliable source for wikipedia, but it could have useful content). The Bhamwiki item mentions an article in the respectable Birmingham News which could be a good source, but I don't have access to that article right now. This one appears to have some more merit than the other one, to me. I would keep it mentioned on the Talk page, and hope to develop it for inclusion in the list, but I do not see enough here yet to include it in the mainspace list. What do you know and think about this one?

Based on my looking at these two, I think they should be removed for now, until there is substantial info with a reliable source provided. I would like to work ahead, with you if you wish, to develop more items to include into the shorter list of verified valid ones that I was previously developing. Would you please comment. --doncram 16:21, 8 October 2015 (UTC)

Waldorfbp, another problem with the "old big list" version is that it fails to link to many/most existing separate articles about mosques in the U.S. In the current page, from Alabama through Connecticut the only link is an erroneous one to Lighthouse Mosque, a mosque in Guangzhou, China. In the reduced then developed version, there are links to 11, within just Alabama through Connecticut. Is it your intention to prevent the list-article from linking to articles? And to erase the other development, such as adding the Islamic Center of Yuba City item, which I spent some time developing. I assume and hope not, but please comment. --doncram 20:45, 8 October 2015 (UTC)

Connecticut notable mosques

I'll make some notes here about Connecticut items, pending some stability in this list article.

• Islamic Association of Greater Hartford seems likely notable, as also does Dr. M. Reza Mansoor individually, per this recent Fairfield Daily Voice article. Mansoor is a Hartford Hospital cardiologist, is President of the Islamic Association of Greater Hartford and "a long-time Trustee of the Hartford Seminary, the country’s oldest center for the study of Islam and Christian-Muslim relations." Similar notice of speaker event at Fairfield Citizen article. Berlin, CT, new mosque is also part of IAGH. Search hits in Fairfield Citizen
• Mansoor was also founding president of the Muslim Coalition of Connecticut, an organization that is perhaps also notable, but Mansoor clearly is a notable leader:
  • Hartford Courant article on panel event including Mansoor
  • WTNH article quoting Mansoor in July 2015.
  • February 2015 Hartford Courant article citing Mansoor.
• Masjid An-Noor, Bridgeport: Bridgeport's Masjid An-Noor mosque in Bridgeport (official website). It is also known as Bridgeport Islamic Society-Masjid An-Noor, e.g. in this directory. Apparently biggest mosque in Bridgeport area. Clearly notable, given controversy in 2010.
  • Faisal Shahzad, May 1, 2010 Times Square bomber, lived in Bridgeport; articles mention Masjid An-Noor as largest mosque in area
    • dnainfo
    • NY Post
    • Called a terrorist front, etc. [http://www.wnd.com/2010/05/151413/ WND political website article aug 8]
  • It was site of protests in August 2010, per:
    • this Fairfield Citizen article
    • CT Post article, and Aug 12 CT Post
    • "Texas Demonstrators Plan to Gather at Mosques Through Ramadan" NBC CT article
    • Pamela Geller anti-islamic site article
    • New Haven Register Aug 9
  • Its building purchased in 1991 was formerly a bank, per Salatomatic.com listing
• Masjid An-Noor, currently a redlink, needs to be a disambiguation page.

Watch: Draft:Masjid An-Noor, Draft:Masjid An-Noor, Bridgeport, Draft:M. Reza Mansoor, Draft:Islamic Association of Greater Hartford. --doncram 22:03, 8 October 2015 (UTC)

@Doncram: you might want to look at the Wikimedia cateogory of U.S. mosque images here as a guide, because quite frankly any list of buildings/structures with little number of images doesn't look interesting.--Peaceworld 20:31, 12 October 2015 (UTC)

Thanks, that helps. None of the un-illustrated mosques here had a pic there, but I added several new mosques with pics from there just now. This list before had all or nearly all U.S. mosques that have articles, and now it has all or nearly all having a pic available. Thanks! --doncram 02:54, 13 October 2015 (UTC)

Restoration explanation

This is a list of mosque in the United States. What many newer editors misunderstand is that list articles in Wikipedia are not intended to be exhaustive, that is include everything that qualifies as a member of the list; instead, it is understood that it is a list of notable mosques in the United States. There are many more mosques than listed here. Some of the items not on the list might deserve to be on the list but if added, they need to be accompanied by references showing they are notable.

Please do not indiscriminately add an item to list simply because it happens to be a mosque. Please do add a mosque if it is missing from this list and it can be supported by references.--S Philbrick(Talk) 19:27, 15 October 2015 (UTC)

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