Muslims found the South Seattle Islamic Center in 1973.

  • By Dave Wilma
  • Posted 9/13/2001
  • HistoryLink.org Essay 3557
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In 1973, Muslims found the South Seattle Islamic Center in Riverton Heights. Later the Sea-Tac Mosque is established here at 3040 S 150th Street in Sea-Tac. In 1980, the community will establish the Islamic School.

Origin of the Sea-Tac Mosque

The South Seattle Islamic Center had its origins in the early 1960s with two Boeing employees, one an Iraqi and one a Pakistani, who noticed each other skipping lunch during the Muslim celebration of Ramadan.

Social visits between families grew into a Muslim community which saw the need for a mosque. The families saved $100 a month toward a down payment on a two-story house at 3040 S 150th Street in what would become the city of Sea-Tac.

In 1980, five white and African American women who had converted to Islam wanted an Islamic school. A Muslim lawyer assisted in forming a not-for-profit organization and a Pakistani teacher from Florida was recruited as the first teacher. The Egyptian-born husband of one of the founders was in Kuwait on business and obtained seed money to buy a van and instructional materials.

The student body grew quickly. In 1980 it acquired a former Hebrew school at 720 25th Avenue in Seattle's Central Area to better serve widely spread families. The school also served as a religious center for the Islamic community.

 


Sources:

Paul Shukovsky, "Cultures Clash Over Crowded Mosque," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, August 4, 2001, (seattlep-i.nwsource.com/ local/ 33953_mosque04.shtml); Miriam Adeney and Kathryn DeMaster, "Muslims in Seattle," (student research paper, Seattle Pacific University, 1991) (http://adam.spu.edu/~denuol/Muslim1.htm#_edn10).


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