I feel safe saying that the town in which I grew up, Carmel, is a platform for the interfaith concept. We are home to 42 churches, two synagogues and one mosque: the Al Salam Foundation. Set in a small office space, the Al Salam Foundation opened its doors six years ago. Since then, it has become a home to many Muslim kids, like me,  growing up in Carmel. Like other faith-based building, it has become a place where friendships have flourished. A place for community potlucks. A place for youth group meetings. A place for breaking fast during Ramadan. Despite being small, the Muslim community has flourished in this space. It has become a hub for the Muslim community. Having lived in Carmel for eight years, this foundation has given me a sense of community that I lacked before. 

However, today the Muslim community surpasses the space’s maximum capacity. During Friday prayer, a tradition similar to Sunday Mass in the Catholic church, people have to pray in hallways. During Ramadan, people pray outside in the parking lot. It is a known fact that the Muslim community has outgrown the space we are in right now.  Fortunately, the mosque has plans to better accommodate the community in Carmel. The Islamic Life Center—the proposed mosque—is set to be built on the corner of 141st Street and Shelborne Road. Unfortunately, the proposed mosque deal has been scuttled with fear, uncertainty and, most of all,  false information.

This mosque is no different than a synagogue, temple or church. Like these structures, this mosque will be more than just a place of worship. It will be more than a place of religious congregation.  It will be a symbol of inclusion. A symbol of community values. A symbol of diversity. This mosque will become a platform for Muslims to become an active and integral part of the Carmel community. The need for a mosque in Carmel surpasses property value, traffic and all other circumstantial concerns brought up in the past two months. This problem is about cohesion in the Carmel community. In a time of Islamophobia and religious adversity, no American should feel they don’t belong in their hometown. The outcome of this decision will determine what kind of message Carmel will send on a national scale. It is time that we live up to Carmel’s standards of diversity and acceptance, the very tenets that makes this community a great place to grow up.

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On Monday, Carmel’s Board of Zoning Appeals will meet for the second time to approve or deny the proposed mosque. I urge all of you to use your voice to support the Carmel mosque in the spirit of interfaith, acceptance and inclusion.

The views in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of the HiLite staff. Reach Manahil Nadeem at [email protected].