By Garrett Shaw
Beset by months of legal exchange and swirling controversy, the Islamic Society of Boston’s (ISB) monumental, $24 million mosque and cultural center is nearing completion. It is the largest, most expensive mosque in New England.
The grand opening will take place within the next several months, said an ISB spokesperson. The center, located a few minutes from Northeastern in Roxbury Crossing, near Tremont Street on Malcolm X Boulevard, will provide a focal point for Boston’s Muslim community.
The mosque has been smeared with negative publicity. The David Project, a right-wing pro-Israel group, has led the charge against ISB, claiming links with terrorists. It was reported that a Muslim official at the Boston Redevelopment Authority sold the site to ISB at a largely discounted price. ISB’s interfaith coordinator, Jessica Masse, submitted a rebuttal to the David Project, which was posted on Boston.com, indicating that the allegations stemmed from “incomplete reporting.”
“The real story here remains the relentless efforts by the David Project to stop the building of the mosque and center for Interfaith dialogue in Roxbury,” Masse said.
The David Project had no comment regarding this rebuttal. As of June, the David Project said it will continue pressing on with a lawsuit against the improper land transaction.
City officials, including Mayor Thomas Menino, have embraced the construction of the mosque.
The Muslim community in and around Northeastern has overcome the setbacks. On Sept. 28, to break the fast of Ramadan, 3,500 local Muslims gathered in the culture center in what was referred to as “A Night of Power.”
“It’s our job to just try and raise awareness,” said Mouaad Lebeche, President of The Islamic Society at Northeastern University. “People want to call us terrorists, people want to call us murderers, and all we can do is try our best to relinquish these stereotypes.”
Beth Meltzer, executive director of the Hillel chapter at Northeastern, also wants to look past the unauthentic allegations and point out the mosque’s significance to the Northeastern community.
“It’s sad because there’s so much diversity here,” she said. “The different organizations don’t really do stuff together. I think that the culture center will improve upon this.”
Lebeche agrees about diversity, and hopes to host members of many faiths at the mosque.
“Finally having something this big, I think will increase awareness and cultural understanding of our religion,” he said. “We’re planning events for all religions in our culture center.”
