History

Masjid Muhammad was founded in 1995 on a ten acre plot of land in the suburbs of northwest Jackson. The current building is a small ranch house converted into a masjid where the members gather several times a week for worship and prayer. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, following the upsurge of interest in Islam among African-Americans, leaders of the black Muslim community in central Mississippi convened to form Masjid Muhammad at its older location. The original masjid was founded in 1971 in inner city Jackson. At the time the membership affiliated with Nation of Islam, practicing da’wa among the poor in the area. Upon the death of Elijah Muhammad in 1975, the leadership voted to join the American Muslim Mission led by W. Deen Muhammad, desiring to involve more of the growing Middle-Eastern and African population in the area in the life of the masjid. Today the community is thriving with members from several countries in the Middle East, primarily Yemen and Lebanon. They moved to the present location in 1995 and are planning the construction of a new, larger masjid within the next two years.

Activities and Schedule

Masjid Muhammad meets every Friday at 1:00 in the afternoon for Jum’ah prayer and a sermon. The masjid is open for prayer every evening of the week. Women and children attend the Friday prayer services and evening prayers and have their own study sessions on Sunday mornings. Prayer is conducted in Arabic, and sermons are conducted primarily in English.

Community Outreach

Community outreach and education are among the foremost priorities of Masjid Muhammad. Projects include a daily call to prayer on local radio and a weekly television prayer service by the imam. In 2000, two members of Masjid Muhammad decided to establish a museum devoted solely to Islam-related exhibits and educational programs. The masjid offered to support the museum and the International Museum of Muslim Cultures officially opened its doors in early 2001. The mission of the museum is "to educate the public on the richness of Metropolitan Jackson as well as the State's diverse religious and cultural heritage and illustrate the vast positive contribution that Muslims have made to the development of Mississippi, the South, America and the World." Additionally, they have collaborated with Masjid Omar, also in Jackson, to provide Islamic educational talks at local schools and colleges. The current imam recently coordinated a public lecture series on Islam at Millsaps College in Jackson.