Imam Mohamad Jawad Chirri, in the year 1948, traveled to the United States of America at the request of the then small Muslim community in the Detroit area, in order to bring guidance and purpose. The community then was made up of mostly Lebanese immigrants from as early as the turn of the 20th Century and their first- and second-generation offspring. The vacuum to fill was huge! Through many hardships and hurdles to overcome, Imam Chirri was able to transform a community that had lived and almost assimilated into a Christian culture into a community that found solidarity under the Islamic Center Foundation Society in Highland Park, Michigan. After forming the nucleus, the Imam envisioned a more grandiose platform to showcase Islam. But how, and at what expense? How can a predominantly blue collar and small, storeowner community fund a project as large as building a new mosque?

      In 1959, Imam Mohamad Jawad Chirri traveled to the United Arab Republic (Egypt) and was fortunate to meet with President Jamal Abdul Nasser, then the most powerful leader in the Middle East, to seek financial assistance in building a new mosque in America. Imam Chirri also took the opportunity to meet with Imam Mahmoud Shaltout of the Al-Azhar University to discuss similarities between the Sunni and She’ah Jaa’fari schools of thought. After lengthy dialogues, Imam Shaltout made a historical announcement that the Sunni and She’ah sects are both sound schools of thought, and they both share equal legitimacy in Islam. Imam Chirri was also able to convince President Nasser, who was generous to donate a sum of money - enough to help the foundation purchase a parcel of land on Joy Road and Greenfield. With Allah’s guidance, community donations, and the sacrifice of lifetime savings of many members of the foundation, the Islamic Center of Detroit was built and opened in 1962. It was a great dream that had come true! This center became the glue of the community, as Sunday services became a weekly routine, Islamic holidays could be celebrated, and the youth had a place to connect with and be proud to belong to.

      Imam Mohamad Jawad Chirri was born in Lebanon and graduated from the renowned theological Institute of An-Najaf Al-Ashraf University in Iraq. Although the Imam did not attend American schools, he was self-taught in the English language, and during his life he authored and published several books in both Arabic and English. His most notable work is the widely read, “Inquiries about Islam”, which was published in 1962. This year, it is being reproduced in its fifth edition. His mastery of the English language afforded him many guest lecture appearances at colleges and universities, churches and synagogues, and he was the first Muslim to represent Islam at the Detroit Roundtable, which until then was made up of only Christians and Jews. He also pleaded the case for the Palestinians on national TV, hosted a radio program called “Islam in Focus”, and was an advisor, often sought after by presidents in the White House.

      Imam Chirri’s goal was to spread Islam in a country that had not known Islam and to a community that was starving for Islam. The generations that followed were and are the seeds of what was sown. The end result is quite obvious today, as we see the Muslim community in the Dearborn/Detroit metro area at its peak. The turnaround is quite obvious. To him, we can attribute the strength of Islam today. His foundation provided security for those that were thinking of immigrating to North America and, in fact, the influx of immigrants forced the foundation of several other Islamic institutions and the opportunity for many other Muslim clergy to immigrate to the Americas.

      As the new Islamic Center of America on Ford Road opens its doors this year (2005) and as it marks the 10th anniversary of the passing of the late Imam, we can all be thankful to him and to those who followed him through the dark tunnel of ignorance and apathy into the bright future of Islam that we all enjoy today.