by Abe Sullivan

Created on: January 22, 2007   Last Updated: April 08, 2007

Until we learn to live together we cannot expect to move forward as a community except at a snails pace. What is meant by living together is not only attending the same mosques but also physically residing in the same communities.
If you want to find the best property value in any given neighborhood measure the radial distance of homes and businesses from the closest mosque and the property value will increase as you come closer to the mosque and similarly decrease as you go further away from it.

Although it may not be the case in the sight of the real estate agent in the sight of Allah the most blessed places on earth are the mosques of Allah.
With this in mind it should be our goal to establish communities adjacent to our places of worship. A mosque is of no practical use to a community if it is utilized as a "self service station" in where "members" drop in wash-up pray and then drive away to there homes which in some cases can be more than twenty miles away.
Many mosques are established in lower income working class communities but administered by boards of affluent Muslims who would never consider living in the surrounding neighborhoods. Since the board members do not reside in these neighborhoods they are detached from the actual priorities and circumstances of the Muslims who reside their in. The unfortunate result of this pattern is that the community development, neighborhood activism, and social services, that should extend from the mosque and into the community are neglected.
With a small exception of a few established communities founded by Muslims who are indigenous to North America, many mosques are devoid of any Muslim residents in the surrounding vicinity. Often times hundreds of thousands, and even millions of dollars are raised for land or an existing edifice and there is never any consideration of purchasing the surrounding homes or apartment complexes. With the community purchase of an apartment complex for instance the main office, fitness room, community space, or even one of the units could be converted into the mosque. After the costs of maintenance are covered the remaining revenue received from rent could then cover the living arrangements, maintenance expenses as well as the salary and living arrangements of a full time Imam.
Although apartments have been used to illustrate this example, the same can be situation can be accomplished with any form of residential areas ranging from trailer parks to suburban communities. While many may be conditioned to believe that the latter is more favorable, it is important to remember that it is the character and daily actions of your neighbors, not their wealth, or income levels, that help to make your community a better place.
Taking this into consideration it would be better for us to raise our families in trailer parks that have mosques within them that are maintained by the surrounding community of Muslims than to live far away from mosques in suburban communities surrounded by people who enforce building codes that impede the construction mosques, thereby denying the mercy of Allah within their gates.

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