The Rich and the Poor

Katie is one of the earliest members of Riverside Mosque. ¹ She visited the mosque when the construction had just been completed, even before the floor was carpeted and the building was furnished. Despite the humble interior of the mosque, Katie was amazed by how big it was. She was thrilled that the community had finally built a house of Allah of its own. The community was still small at that time, with only about a hundred Muslim families in the area. ² However, only about one-third of those families attended the mosque regularly in the early 1990s. At that time, Katie never imagined how fast her community could grow in just a decade. Since then the community has grown rapidly due to high birth rates and the constant arrival of new Muslim families from other states and overseas. The then spacious two-story building is now overcrowded when the community gathers together for Friday Jummah prayers, Eid prayer services, Eid banquets, and various community events. In 2004, the mosque was still able to accommodate all the worshipers on Eid in the prayer hall on the second floor. However, three years later in 2007, the organizers had to set up video cameras to live broadcast khutba on the first floor, which was turned into a temporary prayer area for overflowing worshipers.