User:Islamic Center of Minnesota

History: The Muslim community in Minnesota is estimated at 150,000. There are some 6 to 8 million Muslims in the United States and 1.4 billion Muslims worldwide. In 1969, a group of Muslim students at the University of Minnesota who chose to make their permanent home in Minnesota formally started the Islamic Center of Minnesota (ICM) in Dinkytown. The Abukhadra family generously donated the facility in Columbia Heights to be used as a Masjid. With the growth of the Muslim community and with generous donations from community members, the ICM purchased the school building on Gardena Ave. in Fridley in 1987. The ICM school facility in Fridley and the ICM AbuKhadra Masjid are the two ICM facilities in use today.

The Fridley building is used on weekdays by the Al-Amal School, which operates a full time Islamic school. The Islamic Center of Minnesota is the first and largest Islamic center in Minnesota. It is governed by democratically elected board and council members. The ICM operates a weekend school on Saturday and Sunday. ICM AbuKhadra Masjid holds daily and Friday congregational prayers. The ICM provides various services to the community, from K-12 education, adult education, youth programs, social programs, marriage services, funeral services, food distribution through Food Shelf, Al-Shifa Clinic, speakers to speak on Islam in schools, colleges, universities, and other public places, counselling services. Together with Minnesota Council of Churches (MCC), the ICM organizes and is the home of the longest Muslim-Christian Interfaith Dialogue in North America, running for the past 20 years.