Muslims in Mississippi: Playing a vital role

THE US State of Mississippi has an area of 125,443 square kilometers with a total population of 3 million. Jackson is the capital city of Mississippi, where Muslims are playing a vital role in the development of the state. They cover all spectrum of the society. You would find Muslims as university professors, medical doctors, state employees, students, etc. Spread all around the state, Muslims in Mississippi mainly consist of two categories: African American Muslims and Immigrant Muslims. The former category consists of the African Americans who converted to Islam in the beginning; or, their descendants followed the faith following the guidance of Imam Warith Deen Muhammad (1933-2008).

Immigrant Muslims, on the other hand, are those who immigrated to the United States from Muslim countries. They mainly consist of two categories: Indo-Pak Muslims, who emigrated from the Indian subcontinent; and Arab Muslims, who emigrated from Arab countries.
Regardless of race and country of origin, all Muslim communities pray, celebrate and do other religious and cultural activities together. The determining factor for the use of a facility from an individual’s point of view is the distance from home or work rather than race. Some mosques are administered by the African American Muslim community. These are associated with the leadership of Imam Muhammad and the Mosque Cares Ministry (http://www.themosquecares.com/). Other mosques are controlled by immigrant Muslims and are affiliated with the Islamic Society of North America or ISNA (http://www.isna.net/) and are entrusted with the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT) (www.nait.net). There are at least nine Islamic centers or mosques distributed all around the state and are listed here in alphabetical order of the city in which they are located as follows:
Biloxi: Biloxi Islamic Center — Masjid Al-Noor, located at 205 Keller Ave, Biloxi, MS 39530, phone: [phone]. The prayer hall capacity is about 50 people. This facility also includes Muslim Sunday school for children.
Hattiesburg: Islamic Center of Hattiesburg — Masjid Al-Huda located at 215 S. 25th Ave., Hattiesburg, MS 39402. It is administered by the Muslim Students Association at the University of Southern Mississippi. The prayer hall capacity is about 20 people.
Jackson, South: Masjid Omar, located in the south of the city at 2533 Old McDowell Rd., Jackson, MS 39284, phone: [phone]. It is administered by the Mississippi Muslim Association. The facility was purchased and adopted as a mosque in 1991 and the land area is about three acres. A new facility was built in 2006 to accommodate the need and the growing number of the Muslim community. The prayer hall capacity is about 300 people. This facility also includes Muslim Sunday school for children.
Jackson, North: Masjid Muhammad, located in the north of the city at 6100 Flora Dr., Jackson, MS 39206, phone: [phone]. The facility was purchased and adopted as a mosque in 1998 and the land area is about nine acres. The prayer hall capacity is about 100 people. The facility also includes 1 acre dedicated as a Muslim cemetery.
Madison: Magnolia Islamic Center, located in a northern suburb of the state capital Jackson at 1465 Highway 51, Madison, MS 39110, phone [phone]. It is administered by the Mississippi Muslim Association. The five acres piece of land was purchased in 2010 and the 10,000 square foot building was completed and inaugurated in 2012 with a capacity for 900 people. This facility also includes Muslim Sunday school for children.
Meridian: Muslim Association of Mississippi and Alabama, located at 900 N. Frontage Rd., Meridian, MS 39301, phone: [phone]. The facility was adopted as a mosque in 2000. The prayer hall capacity is about 40 people.
Oxford: Oxford Muslim Society located at McElroy Dr., Oxford, MS 38655. The mosque was built in 1999. The land area is about two acres. The prayer hall capacity is about 100 people.
Starkville: Islamic Center of Mississippi, located at 204 Herbert St., Starkville, MS 39759, phone: [phone]. The mosque was built in 1998. The prayer hall capacity is about 200 people. This facility also includes Muslim Sunday school for children.
Sumrall: Masjid Al-Halim located at 8 Al-Halim Rd., Sumrall, MS 39482, phone: [phone]. This is also referred to as New Medina and it was established as a Muslim town in 1987. The land consists of about 64 acres and includes about ten houses, a 1 acre Muslim cemetery, and a full-time K-12 school located at the mosque. The mosque was built in 1993. The prayer hall capacity is about 100 people.
Vicksburg: Islamic Center of Vicksburg — Masjid Wali Aziz, located at 6705 Paxton Rd., Vicksburg, MS 39180, phone [phone]. The Mosque was built in 2003. The land area is about 3 acres. The prayer hall capacity is about 100 people.
There are other facilities that some Muslims use in various cities around the state to pray and gather. These were not included here since they are a rented space or a room at a certain facility and therefore may change at any time.
In universities across the state, Muslim students developed Muslim Students Association (MSA) to enhance Muslim students’ involvement and participation in Islamic activities on-campus and community and to improve and increase the educational activities directed toward the non-Muslim population on their campuses in order to increase awareness and better understanding of the Islamic faith at their university. MSA’s are affiliated with MSA – National (http://www.msanational.org) and are located at Jackson State University at Jackson, the University of Mississippi at Oxford, Mississippi State University at Starkville and the University of Southern Mississippi at Hattiesburg.
Finally, Jackson is the home of the International Museum of Muslim Cultures (http://www.muslimmuseum.org/), which is dedicated to educating the public about Islamic History and Culture and is the only such museum in the United States. It has opened to the public in 2001 and moved in 2006 to its current location at the Mississippi Arts Center at 201 East Pascagoula St., MS 39201. It receives about 10,000 visitors per year.
The number of Muslims in the State of Mississippi could be estimated at 5,000, distributed as follows: 2,000 in Jackson Area, 1,000 in Hattiesburg area, 1,000 in the Gulf Coast and 1,000 spread throughout the State.