CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) - Islam is a major world religion, Pew Research estimates Muslims make up a quarter of the world’s population. After more than a thousand years, American Muslims wouldn’t have a purpose-built house of worship until 1936.

The Mother Mosque is the first purpose-built mosque in the United States. Other Muslim communities held prayer services in retrofitted buildings -- the Mother Mosque was built throughout the Great Depression.

Imam Taha Tawil holds tours of the building, which features a display of the community’s history.

The mosque was eventually sold to build the Islamic Center of Cedar Rapids, where hundreds now congregate weekly for prayer. Tawil was part of a push to buy the mosque back in the 1990s as it had been turned into a Pentecostal church.

Tawil e

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