Masjid Zakariya: A Flourishing Community in the Heart of Buffalo’s East Side

Over the past twenty-four years, Masjid Zakariya, a Sunni Muslim mosque, has become one of the strongest communities on Buffalo’s East Side. Founded in 1992 at the site of the former Holy Mother of the Rosary Cathedral on Sobieski Street, Masjid Zakariya has transformed its surrounding neighborhood into a place where people might flourish.

“When I first came here, prostitution and drug dealers were rampant; many of the houses on Sobieski were crack houses,” says Asim Ahmad, an imam and teacher who moved to Buffalo from his hometown of Binghamton, NY in 1998. “Muslims are traditionally very family-oriented, so as people began to move into the area, we were focused on building a neighborhood that would be safe for our kids.”

Dr.Hatim Hamad, a dentist and former US Navy serviceman who is a board member of Masjid Zakariya and President of Masjid Jami on Genesee St., says that the transformation of the area has been remarkable.

“It used to be that you couldn’t walk down the street to buy a gallon of milk,” he says. “Now we have children running down the street and playing. It is amazingly safer.”

Hamad, who moved to Buffalo from his native California for dental school and ended up staying, was able to have an influence on the neighborhood through his capacity for building relationships. The effort to shut down crack houses was strengthened when he learned that one of his patients was head of the Buffalo Police Narcotics Division. “Since I was in the service, I particularly like working with military, police and other people who give their service to our communities. We were very grateful to have police help.”

Hamad adds that the growing Muslim community in the area also contributes economically. “Just by moving into the area and revitalizing our homes, we contribute economically through our tax dollars and buy raising property values. Meanwhile, as Muslim doctors, nurses, pharmacists, engineers and physical therapists have moved into the area around the mosque, we have been forming a strong community with a foothold in the professional realm.”

He adds that the community has also contributed by maintaining the building of the historic building of the Holy Mother of the Rosary Cathedral. “We know that some people in the community may not be happy to see that the former church is now a mosque,” says Hamad. “But we have maintained the architecture and structure, and we are basically using it for its original purpose – as a house of worship.”

Masjid Zakariya is open for prayer five times a day and usually sees 40-60 people at any given prayer time; Friday services typically have 400 people. Meanwhile, Masjid Zakariya is also home to three schools – a girls’ boarding school, a boys’ boarding school and a day school, all of which offer a traditional Islamic education alongside a New York State-certified secular one. In total these schools educate about 500 students, many who come from around the United States and beyond.

“The mosque is always busy because it is the center of our community,” says Asim Ahmad. “People move here for religious reasons – They want to be active. My goal as a teacher and imam is help everyone in our community to live by faith in all aspects of their lives, to become complete Muslims and people of character. This begins with the education of the very young.”

“We want to educate our youth so that when they grow up, they will create a positive community wherever they go,” says Hamad. He and Ahmad both assert that education is the best antidote to both Islamaphobia and extremism, which occurs when people misinterpret the Holy Quran.

“Extremism occurs when individuals interpret the sacred texts out of context, ignoring the work of our scholars and the traditions we have developed over centuries,” says Ahmad. “It is impossible to know the Quran without studying the interpretations of it.”

In terms of Islamophobia, both leaders say that while they personally have not experienced discrimination, they recognize that it is a problem in the wake of 9-11 and the more recent San Bernardino killings. For Ahmad, a major problem is mainstream media’s distortion of reality – a reason why he and many others in the community choose not to own a television. He adds that he has recently done some outreach in the community, giving presentation on Islam at a Unitarian Universalist church as well as at SUNY Buffalo.

For Hamad, a major part of the problem is public discourse. “The problem is rhetoric that alienates our neighbors from one another. People need to understand that, while we come from different faiths, most of us want the same things; we have shared values and a common vision for our communities. We are trying to make a better America and show people that this country is already great.”