Masjid al-Ikhlas (Arabic: "mosque of devotion"), also referred to as The Islamic Learning Center of
Orange County
Orange County most commonly refers to:
*Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area
Orange County may also refer to:
U.S. counties
*Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando
*Orange County, Indiana
*Orange County, New ...
, is a
mosque
A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...
in
Newburgh, New York.
Formerly a warehouse, the mosque was founded in 1992. Previously, Newburgh's Muslim community met in town's
NAACP office or a local store front.
As of 2009, the
imam was
Salahuddin Mustafa Muhammad.
Expansion
In 2005, the mosque began an expansion project to accommodate the growing Muslim population of the
Hudson Valley
The Hudson Valley (also known as the Hudson River Valley) comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York. The region stretches from the Capital District including Albany and Troy south to ...
. When the mosque opened in 1992, its membership was an estimated 50 families, but growing to nearly 500 members, the mosque could no longer hold support its growing congregations. Plans were made to double the existing size of the mosque to , including a large dome based on a mold made for the
Masjid Al-Noor mosque in the nearby town of
Wappinger Falls
The Wappinger () were an Eastern Algonquian Munsee-speaking Native American people from what is now southern New York and western Connecticut.
At the time of first contact in the 17th century they were primarily based in what is now Dutchess ...
. Costs were reportedly being covered by donations from mosque members and the community.
2009 Bronx terrorism plot controversy
The mosque came to national attention when it was revealed that it had been regularly attended by four men who were arrested in the
2009 Bronx terrorism plot
On May 20, 2009, US law enforcement arrested four men in connection with a fake plot concocted by a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) informant to shoot down military airplanes flying out of an Air National Guard base in Newburgh, New York ...
, a plan, stopped by the FBI, to shoot down military planes at an Air National Guard base in Newburgh and blow up two synagogues in the Riverdale neighborhood of New York City.
Shahed Hussain, an Albany hotel owner now known to have been an FBI informant, regularly attended the mosque, approaching congregants in the parking lot after Friday services and talking of jihad and violence. Members of the congregation interviewed after the terror plot was exposed stated that "most" members of the congregation had believed Hussain to be an informant. None had reported his talk about
Jihad to the authorities.
See also
*
List of mosques in the Americas
*
Lists of mosques
*
List of mosques in the United States
References
{{Mosques in the United States, state=collapsed
Mosques in New York (state)
Newburgh, New York
1992 establishments in New York (state)