May 25th, 20231DEARBORN — Local artist Haroutioun “Harout” Isack Bastajian was recently recognized during the Islamic Center of America’s (ICA) 61st anniversary Semi-Annual Fundraising Dinner.
The Lebanese artist of Armenian origin who decorated the interior of the ICA prayer room was honored at the event that brought more than 1,000 members...
October 7th, 20221By Lucas Resetar, special to The Arab American News and New Michigan Media
In the year 2000, 11-year-old Marwan Mikhael left Iraq with his father. After crossing into Jordan and enduring a difficult and dangerous journey, he ended up at a small refugee camp in Bulgaria.
“There was no food and little water,” Mikhael said. “I...
March 18th, 20220DEARBORN - The Imam Sadr Foundation (ISF) USA held its 22nd annual event and fundraising gala at the Islamic Center of America on Saturday, March 12.
The gathering saw an immense show of support for the organization that has been doing critical social and humanitarian work for Lebanon’s most vulnerable populations for...
February 26th, 20220DEARBORN — The Lebanese artist of Armenian origin behind the painting of more than a dozen mosques and churches globally has returned to Dearborn to continue to share his work.
Born in 1973, Haroutioun “Harout” Isack Bastajian has always had a passion for art.
“I spent a lot of time in my childhood in the remote...
December 26th, 20210With COVID-19 cases continuing to surge in the area, religious and community leaders are urging people to take caution around the holidays.
The Wayne County Health Department COVID-19 dashboard shows Dearborn still in the lead for total cases and deaths. County-wide cases continue to average well above 500 a day and hospital emergency...
August 31st, 20210DEARBORN — After a pause on activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a program for seniors is resuming its activities every Tuesday, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., at the Islamic Center of America (ICA) in Dearborn.
The program provides social and educational activities at ICA to the area’s seniors, though the program is open to all,...
January 24th, 20200DEARBORN— On Monday, January 20, Dearborn Public Schools students and other volunteers focused on community service as part of a tribute to the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his dream of unity and equality.
The event, held at the Islamic Center of America, gathered high school students from the district and community...
April 5th, 20190DEARBORN — The local Arab American community is mourning the loss of one of its influential and successful leaders, Mohammed Turfe, who died at the age of 88 on Wednesday, March 27 after a two-year battle with pancreatic cancer.
Turfe, who was born in Detroit in January 1931, was one of the main founders of the Islamic Center of...
March 17th, 20190DEARBORN — Several hundred people packed the Islamic Center of America here on Sunday, coming together in a show of unity, condemnation and defiance of the growing threat of terrorism and mass killings worldwide.
The death toll in this past Friday's terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand has risen to 50,...
May 25th, 20180Controversies have plagued the Islamic Center since the passing of its founder, Imam Mohammad Jawad Chirri, in November 1994. Since then, several religious figures have come and gone after deep differences surfaced between the board and the successive imams.
This week, the Islamic Center of America’s board of trustees made...
May 18th, 20180By Rafael Narbaez, Jr.
Disputes or differences between members of the board of directors of a mosque or even among different groups within the community is not something new. Having done fundraising for dozens of mosques throughout the country, this was always a sad reality that I encountered when visiting Muslim...
May 18th, 20180SOUTHFIELD — The Arab American and Chaldean Council (ACC), a premier nonprofit human service organization serving Southeast Michigan, hosted a community event on May 9 called “A Community in Crisis: ACC’s Opioid and Heroin Town Hall Meeting” that featured local religious and community leaders, medical professionals and law...
May 11th, 20180"Many of the ICA's congregants are Arab Americans who have fled war and poverty caused by Israeli aggression in their homeland." - Suhail Bitar, whose relatives were slain during the 1996 Qana massacre
DEARBORN – It was clear it wasn’t going to be a regular Sunday prayer service at the Islamic Center of America (ICA), the...
April 27th, 20180By Farah Harb
The Arab Americans News
DEARBORN – The Qana al-Jalil Committee, in cooperation with the Congress of Arab-American Institutions, commemorated the Qana massacres of 1996 and 2006 on April 22 at The Islamic Center of America.
The event was lead by Ali Mansour from the Arab American News, while Publisher...
March 30th, 20180DEARBORN – After much deliberation and suspense, the City Council unanimously voted March 27 to deny the rezoning of a parcel of land that would have allowed for the development of a Holiday Inn Express within a few hundred feet from schools, a handful of churches and Dearborn’s largest mosque.
The hospitality chain sought to...
March 23rd, 20180DEARBORN – Tensions are high among community members over the proposed opening of a Holiday Inn Express hotel about 500 yards from Dearborn’s largest mosque.
The hospitality chain seeks to construct a business-geared hotel in place of a church that has been vacant for three years, on a triangular block that’s home to the Islamic...
September 29th, 20170DEARBORN— When comparing the Ashura programs offered at local mosques to those found in the Middle East or any Muslim countries, for that matter, there’s evidently a lot of time and effort put into them with hopes of keeping the message of Ahlulbayt’s (the Prophet Mohammad’s family) sacrifice for humanity alive and teaching it to...
September 22nd, 20170DEARBORN — This year, Friday, September 22, marks the beginning of Ashura, the 10-day commemoration of Imam Hussein's (the Prophet Muhammad's grandson) martyrdom and his family and follower's sacrifice— known as a historical tragedy mostly observed by Shi'a Muslims.
Every year there's an increase in social, political and economic...
