A peep into rich history of Islam in Detroit
By Saadia Khalid
ISLAMABAD: Depicting the history of Muslims’ arrival in Detroit and their
settlement there, an
exhibition of photographs titled ‘Building Islam in Detroit’ started at
the National Art
Gallery (NAG) here on Friday.
Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) organised the exhibition in
collaboration with US
embassy.
Detroit, Michigan, is home to one of the largest, oldest Muslim
populations in the United
States (US) where the first mosque was built in 1921 and since then there
had been tremendous
growth in Muslim heritage in the city.
The mosques captured are ideal examples of this creative process, as they
are sites at which
Muslims give collective, material expression to their belief.
The mosques are also work of art where sacred words, images, and sounds
combine to produce
spaces of unusual beauty. The photographs depict mosques as a place where
Muslim comes together
to wor****p and to strengthen their community through communal prayer.
The pictures also present the social world of mosques where celebrations
like fasting,
pilgrimage and Eids are made during these special occasions.
The PNCA, executive director, Jamal Shah said that the true spirit of
Islam inspired the spaces
and institutions depicted in the photographs. “Islam seeks a balance in
everything and it has
not forbidden art, as it could be seen in different forms in the
pictures,” he said.
US Embassy Envoy Sada ***ber said that the Muslim community in Detroit
developed in 1890s and
was able to nurture an Islamic society there.
“In Detroit, the diversity of the Muslim world and the diversity of
America are blending to
produce new communities of faith, and this process has been unfolding for
much longer than most
Muslims, and most Americans, realize,” he said.
The PNCA, acting director general, Shahnaz Hamid said that the exhibition
provided an
op****tunity to peep into the historical richness, diversity, and influence
of Islam in Detroit.
Talking to Daily Times Professor Khwaja Masud said that the photographs
were a wonderful
****trayal of Islam in its truer sense. “God is beautiful, therefore, the
places of wor****p
should also be beautiful,” commented Masud. “If people living abroad can
introduce new trends
and innovations in religious places then why cannot we do it here in
Pakistan,” he said, adding
that if the modern architecture was followed in other buildings then why
it could not be
followed in mosques.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%5C05%5C03%5Cstory_3-5-2008_pg11_9
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