ROCKFORD – Muslims have been a part of the Rockford community for at least 20 years, but they haven't had a prominent physical structure on the city's landscape that visibly symbolizes their presence.
Until this summer.
A four-story, 6,000-square-foot mosque has taken shape at the corner of Darlene Drive and South Mulford Road.
The brick octagon-shaped building topped by a gold dome and featuring a green and gold minaret is the latest addition to the Muslim Community Center, 5921 Darlene Drive. Construction on the $1.3 million Muslim house of worship began in the spring and is expected to be completed by late November.
It's the result of a 10-year fundraising campaign and a growing Muslim community, said Dr. Dawood Harunani, a Rockford resident and dentist working in Oregon. He is also president of the Muslim Association of Greater Rockford.
"The building means a lot to us," he said Tuesday. "It means we have a formal structure in terms of worship. Before, we just a had a room in the school building we were using for worship."
Wesley Lebron, Muslim Community Center administrative assistant, said, "The Muslims have owned this property for 20 years. To have an actual facility, this is a big feat for us. This is a beacon for us and other Muslims."
Harunani, who came to Rockford in 1985, said there are about 300 Muslim families in Rockford. He said they have long since outgrown their classroom worship space. When Rockford Muslims want to worship in a traditional setting, they travel to Elgin or Madison, Wis.
That will change in late November. Once Rockford's spacious mosque is open, Harunani expects to draw Muslims from as far north as Janesville, Wis., and as far south as DeKalb.
The building faces northeast toward Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Muhammad and the holiest city of Islam.
"It is the direction we face when we pray," he said.
While Christians have the cross and Jews have the Star of David, Lebron said, Muslims have the crescent moon. A gold crescent moon tops the dome.
"Everything we do is based on the lunar calendar," he said. The new crescent moon signifies the beginning of the month of Ramadan, the holiest period for the Islamic faith, which is observed by fasting daily from dawn to sunset for 30 days.
Visitors who enter the main worship hall will not find any pews. Instead, they will find a carpeted surface and shoeless Muslim men standing, bowing and prostrating, which is the act of being on your knees and pressing your forehead and palms of your hands on the floor and reciting prayer.
Muslims pray five times a day between 5 a.m. and 10 p.m. Each prayer period can last five to 10 minutes.
While there is a national ongoing debate about the possible placement of a mosque near the former site of the World Trade Center towers in New York, Lebron and local construction contractor Mokhtar Mohamed said Rockford-area residents couldn't be more accommodating as Rockford's first mosque nears completion.
Lebron, a native of Puerto Rico who was raised as a Christian and adopted Muslim beliefs 12 years ago, said, "Rockford is special. The people have been very receptive and open-minded. They'll ask you a question before they say something negative."
Mohamed said people drive by on a daily basis and take pictures. He and Harunani also said SwedishAmerican Hospital displays pictures of the mosque on its website and uses it as well as the nearby K-12 Rockford Iqra School as a recruiting tool to draw Muslim doctors and other professionals to the area.
Perhaps the city's biggest draw for Rockford's growing Muslim population is a cheaper cost of living than Chicago, Harunani said. Local hospitals are drawing Muslim doctors, and aerospace manufacturer Hamilton Sundstrand is drawing Muslim engineers.
"Over the last five years, we have really grown," he said.