1970s
Muslim Student Association founded at IUP
Prior to buying the house to house the first mosque in 1997, a small group rented an apartment for prayers.
1997
Purchase and remodel of a house in downtown Indiana (132 Philadelphia Street) to use as mosque for Friday congregational prayer. Cost of property as reported by Indiana Gazette (October 14, 1997) is $35,000.
House was too small to accommodate full community for Eid celebrations and so Eid celebrations held at other venues, such as the College Lodge.
Learn more about community life when the Islamic Center was located in the small house in town in these oral histories: Kustim, Rizwan, Nana .
An article in the Indiana Gazette in 2001 describes the mosque and community this way:
“Each week, an average of 40 Muslim men and women visit the Islamic Center, which serves as their mosque. The next closest mosque is in Johnstown. Most of the Muslims in Indiana County are students or professors at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. The others who are not associated with IUP are physicians and civil servants. […] In separate rooms, men and women pray fives times a day, seven days a week. A line of masking tape on the floor marks the spot where worshippers kneel to face Mecca, Islam’s holy city in Saudi Arabia.”
Effects of 9/11. Description from same article:
“The Muslims at the Islamic Center said Friday that they have not been physically harmed by others since the Sept. 11 attack but that they are worried about retribution. They asked to be identified by their first and middle names and did not want the address of the Islamic Center to be printed.”
2007
Community buys land in White Township on W. Pike Rd. and begins fundraising for cost of building a new mosque. Cost of the land according to Indiana Gazette was $46,000 (July 28, 2008).
Learn more about the decision to buy the land in these oral histories: Kustim
2013
Construction of Islamic Center on W. Pike Rd begins.
Indiana Gazette (local newspaper) reports in March 2013 that the White Township Planning Commission approved plans for the Islamic Center including a 3,444-square-foot prayer room, and a 2,535-square-foot social hall, with 44 parking spaces. Construction scheduled to begin in May or June 2013.
Learn more about the construction of the Islamic Center in the following oral histories: Rizwan, Waleed
2014
Islamic Center of Indiana, PA opens new building to community at beginning of Ramadan.
Improvements and additions are made over following several years including completion of Social Hall/separate space for women and children and classrooms, paving the parking lot, and installing the minbar (pulpit) in the prayer hall.
2017
Flooding due to summer storms damage mosque. Community holds Eid al-Fitr prayers in field house on IUP campus.
2020
COVID-19 pandemic leads to closure of mosque for services starting in March. Limited services are resumed over the summer. No formal communal events are held for Ramadan (April-May 2020) or Eid al-Fitr. For Eid al-Adha a very limited number of people were able to attend Eid prayers on a first come basis.
Muslims in PA 