Facing funding problems for months, the council of Dallas’ East Plano Islamic Center (EPIC) has found a creative way to get donations by asking Muslim worshippers to sponsor prayer spaces for which the reward is a home in Paradise as stated in the Qur’an.

“The Quran teaches you that whoever helps build a mosque, Allah helps them build a home in heaven,” Muhammad Jawaid Isa, the center’s board president, told Dallas News website on Friday, May 30.

“The reward will continue as long as people continue to pray.”

For years, EPIC small center and mosque used to attract about 1000 worshippers from East Plano and neighboring cities.

EPIC began with small gatherings of local Muslims in 2003 in east Plano.

“It started in someone’s garage, doing prayers,” Isa said.

The organization moved five years later to its current facility, a building of about 10,000 square feet, in 2008.

“This is called a temporary mosque, called a musalla,” he said. “The plan is that eventually, this will be rented out.”

With the increase in the number of Muslims, the need was urged for a larger place to host Muslims congregational prayers and special Ramadan and `Eid events.

At this point, the dream for the new 33,000-square-foot facility appeared, for which an estimated $5 million was needed to complete construction.

A construction company is working on the building’s foundation and steel structure at a cost of about $2 million, which they hope to be completely funded by the end of July.

The project had been envisioned since the organization’s inception, but work began when the organization had collected about $900,000.

“We had a lot of pressure from the community. ‘You guys are just sitting on the money,’” Isa said.

“We’d been waiting on funding.”

Later on, the administration launched a unique plan to get funding by asking people to sponsor one prayer space with a donation of $1,000, or half of a space with $500.

The campaign is based on the principles of the Qur’an that if a man builds a mosque, Allah will build a home for him in paradise. The new facility will have about 3,200 prayer spaces.

Outreach

The center has been attracting volunteers who work in its outreach programs and community services.

“I was not a very religious person,” volunteer Sameer Siddiqui, who is on the construction committee and has been congregating at EPIC for years, said.

“I saw people working here, volunteers who inspired me. I saw all of these different people coming together. I liked that part.”

The mosque also has an on-site medical clinic for low-income and uninsured members of the community, open each Saturday.

EPIC also supports local food pantries, works to educate the community about Islam and collects donations for charities and needy families.

It also serves the Muslim community, offering young students classes on the noble Qur’an.

According to the mosque managers, the organization’s model is based on the masjid built in 622 by Muhammad, the Islamic prophet.

“His masjid was not just a place to pray,” Isa said. It’s a place with “counseling, help to the community, medical clinic, outreach.”

Isa said EPIC’s role in the greater community is to change wrong perceptions of Muslims and Islam in the American community through its outreach programs.

“I hope people come to our open houses and give us a chance to explain who we are,” he said.

“There are a lot of ideas about women in our community ... They dress differently, but that doesn’t make us any different or prevent them from doing things men do.”

When completed, the center’s family programs would be launched to served the Muslim community.

“We’re a growing community that’s trying to do a lot of programs,” said EPIC member and volunteer Obaid Siddiqui.

“For me, it will be a family place for us to play basketball and attend programs.”

https://islamstory.com/en/artical/17844/EPIC-Mosque-Build-Your-Home-Paradise