Welcome
Here at As Salaam Islamic Center of Raleigh, we are committed to serving Allah (SWT) and the needs of you and your family. Using universal principles of spirituality, we offer practical tools for leading a joyous, abundant and peaceful life.
Wherever you may be on your spiritual path, at As Salaam Islamic Center of Raleigh, you will find a supportive community with a wealth of opportunities for personal growth. Imam Oliver S. Muhammed is the resident Imam of As Salaam Islamic Center.
The Board of Trustees of ASIC, our members and the Imams have cast a noble vision and are committed to building a new 6,000 square foot Masjid from the ground up. This facility will accommodate 300 believers in the prayer area, three classrooms, two offices, a multipurpose room with a commercial kitchen, Bookstore and Library and a women’s lounge. The vision of the community is to not only construct a Masjid but to develop a community or neighborhood that will comprise housing, education and business as well. There is a strong interest to purchase more property on both the block that the Masjid will be constructed on and also in the surrounding community.
ASIC invites you to become a member of our congregation and allowing Allah (SWT) into your life through our various programs and community outreach efforts. We are seeking people and families regardless of race or ethnic background who consider themselves progressive, and who desire to live the Muslim life to its fullest to join us. Our aim and purpose is to provide a supportive environment using the Higher Objectives of the Quran, the Life of Prophet Muhammad (saw) and annotated by the wisdom and leadership of lmam Warith Deen Mohammad (ra).
History of As Salaam Islamic Center
During the late 1950s Islam began to spread throughout the state of North Carolina by individuals coming from the Maryland and District of Columbia areas planting seeds of awareness for the growth and development of Islam. Coinciding with the times, there was great concern over social unrest and racial injustice.
By the early 1960s a band of approximately 5 families under the leadership of Sheik Kenneth Murray-Muhammad pooled their resources and began holding Islamic services in a car garage and then in a storefront building, and then moved above a taxi cab stand in Durham, North Carolina in an area known historically as the “Black Wall Street” of the South. Sheik Kenneth and other families commuted from Raleigh to Durham until the late 1960s, when urban renewal and redevelopment displaced many of the striving African American business establishments.
The background of As Salaam Islamic Center of Raleigh evolved out of the Islamic exertion of Sheik Kenneth and his many stalwart students. In 1970 the Raleigh community established itself under the leadership of Sheik Kenneth B. Murray-Muhammad, Brother Leo Graham aka Leo Seifuddin and many other dedicated Brothers and Sisters in a small residential dwelling on Martin Street. In this small dwelling the University of Islam begin to grow with students attending from all over Raleigh and Durham. The community outgrew that small humble dwelling and moved to a strip mall on Hill Street across from St. Augustine University. This facility would house the Muhammad Mosque #34, its Islamic school operating from preschool to high school and an enrollment of approximately 100 students commuting from Durham, Kinston, Greenville and Fayetteville, North Carolina. The school served as a hub for the Muslim community and graduated its first class in 1974. The facility also housed a small sit down and carry out Restaurant that sold Whiting H&G and many other popular products.
In 1975 the leadership of Imam Warith Deen Mohammad moved the Raleigh community and other masajid nationwide to the global tenets of Al-Islam and with this change, came growth and expansion. Muhammad Mosque# 34 became Masjid Muhammad, where the proper Quranic belief and the Sunnah (traditions) of Prophet Muhammad began to be practiced. Later the community changed the name to Masjid Seifuddin in honor of Imam Leo Seifuddin who worked faithfully to hold the community together during the transition to evolve the community to the correct beliefs and practices of Al Islam. The community experienced a number of leaders after the passing of Imam Seifuddin. The Masjid location would change due to a period of circumstances that brought on the need to purchase its own facility, so the community could continue moving forward.
The community acquired a residential property between 1998 and 1999 on Lord Anson Drive. Jumah, Taleem and a weekend school was re-established after having to move from Hill Street. The Masjid was able to pay off the mortgage on this property in a short period of time. The name of the Masjid changed from Seifuddin to As Salaam Islamic Center to better reflect in name the Community’s posture against the rising tide of Islamophobia before the September 11th 2001 horrific terrorist attacks.
As Salaam Islamic Center begin providing a Weekend School for its students and parents with Islamic Studies, a variety of academic and social activities. An enrollment of approximately 40 students made the facility too small, with little or no space for growth. The community became one of the leading distributors of Halal meat products supporting The Mosques Cares and CPC Comtrust lead by Imam W Deen Mohammed in North Carolina. The Masjid in need of expansion purchased an adjacent residential property as it began to develop its plans to build a new Masjid. Both properties were eventually demolished, and all services were moved to The Vital Link Event Center now known as NEXUS @1214. This was a very strategic move because it allowed the community to have access to a bigger space allowing for broader outreach activities, Dawah programs, conferences, workshops, banquets, social activities and the hosting of Imam W Deen Mohammed on a number of occasions who made a commitment before his passing to make Father’s Day (ADAMS day) an annual visit to Raleigh. May Allah Grant him Paradise.