Islamic Center of America

The Islamic Center of America is a Shia mosque located in Dearborn, Michigan. Opened in 2005, it is both the largest mosque in North America and the oldest Shia mosque in the United States. With its large Shia Arab population (consisting mostly of Iraqi and Lebanese), Dearborn is often called the "heart of Shiism" in the United States. The Islamic Center of America is located at 19500 Ford Road in Dearborn. The institution was founded in 1963 by Muhammad Jawad Chirri, who remained its director until his death in 1994. The current Imam is Iraqi-born Sayed Hassan Al-Qazwini. The mosque was vandalized in January 2007 with anti-Shia graffiti. Many in the community believed that the vandalism was the result of recurrent sectarian tensions...