Shapiro announces $5M grant to Philly Muslim community center

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Gov. Josh Shapiro joined an iftar dinner at the Al-Aqsa Islamic Society in North Philly to announce a historic grant from the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, the largest ever awarded to a Muslim organization.

Shapiro told the assembled group of a few dozen community members Tuesday night that institutions such as Al-Aqsa “are more important than ever before” in the current climate “as we’re facing tumult overseas, and we’re facing a lot of rising hate here at home.”

“So I’m really proud that we’ve been able to work together with your leaders here to invest $5 million in making this place an even greater center of activity in the community,” he told the group as they enjoyed a dinner of shawarma, hummus, rice and pita.

According to Asif Hussain, chairman of the board of Al-Aqsa Islamic Society, one goal for the funds will be to expand the center’s school by adding classrooms and teachers to better meet local demand, increasing attendance from the current 300 to up to 3,000.

“The idea is to have an academic center of excellence at school,” he said. “We have a school that’s K-12. It is very, very small and we have more candidates and more students than we have classrooms. So the idea would be to expand the facility and actually develop it into a full-fledged academic program.”

Al-Aqsa Academy, a private Islamic day and weekend school, was established in 1996. The coursework blends Islamic studies, the Arabic language and Quran classes with a standard K-12 curriculum, including math, science and social studies. The school’s website says its mission is to “provide students with a safe, nurturing, and uplifting Islamic environment that will help them achieve academic excellence.”

Much of the school’s operations costs are borne by private donations. In addition, the students, who are primarily from African and Middle Eastern backgrounds, receive scholarships and financial aid facilitated by programs like the Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program.

Hussain says that none of the families are required to pay tuition and that the school boasts a 100% college placement rate.

One of those students, senior Younis Hammaoudeh, was recently accepted to Villanova University on scholarship, where he plans to major in biology on his way to becoming a physician’s assistant. He told WHYY News that Al-Aqsa Academy’s personal focus on the students prepared him well for that next phase.

“Everyone around is just like family,” Hammaoudeh, the school’s valedictorian, said. “Anytime you have a question, you go straight to the teacher. There’s no problems there whatsoever.”

For Hammaoudeh and many other students, it really is a family affair — his mother works at the school and his cousins attend classes there. He said they also have extracurricular activities — he played and coached soccer and also engaged in interfaith activities with local Christian and Jewish schools.

“I couldn’t have done it without this school,” he said about his college aspirations.

Founded in 1989 by a group of Palestinian immigrants, Al-Aqsa Islamic Society began as a modest house of worship in a rented storefront. Over the past three decades, it has grown into a multifaceted institution serving hundreds of families, drawing worshippers and community members from across the city’s Arab, South Asian, African and African American communities.

The society’s campus also includes a Middle Eastern grocery store, where locals can pick up staples such as dates and za’atar, as well as basketball courts where several of the students could be seen playing rounds after having broken their Ramadan fasting. Al-Aqsa has recently been developing a 45-unit affordable housing project across the street.

A striking feature of the mosque building and community center is its exterior. In 2016, Al-Aqsa partnered with local artists and the city’s Mural Arts Program to transform its façade into a dazzling display of Islamic geometric art and calligraphy. The project, titled “Doorways to Peace,” now serves as a cultural landmark, a visual invitation to a peaceful coexistence with their Philadelphia neighbors.

That peace was broken last year, however, when a 43-year-old resident was shot while on his way to prayer at the mosque. Ten years ago, a severed pig’s head was thrown at the center in the dead of night.

Shapiro said that he worries that such incidents and recent political events have increased anxiety among the Muslim population around the state and in Philadelphia, which is estimated to be between 200,000 and 300,000 people.

“This is a moment where I think communities are fearful of the federal government and that’s deeply concerning to me and I want the Muslim community to know that they’re welcome here in Pennsylvania,” he said at the iftar. “I’ve got their back and I’m going to protect them and I’m going to do everything in my power to ensure that their rights are protected here in the commonwealth.”

Calling it an example of “a really wonderful center of the community,” he said that institutions such as Al-Aqsa are one of the keys to accomplishing that.