From The Peopling of New York City

I interviewed Shahim, a devout Pakistani Muslim I met in the mosque in Jackson Heights, and asked him many questions about the mosque and the people who attend it. The mosque is located in the basement of a building and it is rather quite small.

Shahim: Salaam.

Jin Woo: Hello, may I ask you some questions about this mosque and Jackson Heights for my school project?

S: Sure, what school do you go to?

J: I go to Hunter College.

S: Oh, Hunter. Okay, what do you want to know?

J: So do you attend this mosque regularly?

S: Me, no, but I am here today because my companions and I are traveling from mosque to mosque in the city and to remind people of Allah and to keep him in their thoughts. I am here to three days, this is my second. But I do live around this area and am familiar with Jackson Heights and this mosque.

J: Oh, I see. Then what is the racial make up of this mosque?

S: Well every race comes to this mosque that is in Jackson Heights. Islam, unlike other religions, has no racism in it. We accept every race. Pakistani, Bengali, Bangladeshi, Chineses, Tibetan, Nepalese, Indian, Arab, they all come here.

J: Do you know how old this mosque is?

S: About four years old.

J: I see, may I ask why this mosque is located in the small basement of a building? I mean, this place was kind of hard for me to find.

S: Well the first things Muslims do when they come to a place is build a mosque. It doesn’t matter how beautiful or big it is, but as long as we can have a place to gather, that’s good enough. The reason why this place is so small is because finding real estate in the city is very hard and every expensive, especially after September 11. Getting permits to build mosques was harder after that day. But inshallah, we have our mosque here.

J: So what kind of people attend this mosque?

S: Anybody who is Muslim: Pakistani, Chinese, whatever. But this mosque is really a mosque for business people. Muslims who work in Jackson Heights can come here to pray; they all have mosques at home, but they come here during their work day. That’s why many call this the business mosque, because business people come here.

J: Do you know about the Islamic vendors throughout Jackson Heights? Are they somehow related to you or this mosque?

S: I know what you’re talking about, but these guys are in no way connected to us.

J: So they are not associated with the mosque or any large organization?

S: No. Islam forbids making money off the religion. Muslims should not make money off their religion. These guys are just running their own things on the street by themselves. The mosque doesn’t know them and they don’t belong to any organization.

J: So all of them are individually run?

S: Yes, they are not all together or anything. Just small things on the streets.

J: About Jackson Heights, what do you think there are more of, Muslims or Hindus? Because it would seem Hindus are more throughout the area here because seem more visible with statues of Ganesh and such. I know Islam is against icons and idols, but are there more Hindus in Jackson Heights?

S: Well first, Jackson Heights is not just Hindus and Muslims. There are many different people here. Jackson Heights shows not just Pakistanis and Indians, it has everyone from Asia. Jackson Heights is more like Asia than just India or Pakistan.

J: Okay, I see. But is there an increasing Muslim presence?

S: I would say about 50% of people here are Muslim. It may look like there may be more Hindus, but there are more Muslims. They have been recently buying the real estate around here, especially the Bangladeshis. Nineteen years ago this place was full of Hindus, but now that is not the case.

J: So you see Christianity and Judaism as religions but not Hinduism and Buddhism?

S: No we do not. Hinduism and Buddhism is about worshipping images and idols. We Muslims believe our God is the same god of the Jews and Chrsitians. The Hindus and Buddhists don’t worship God.