EPIC is committed to civic and civil engagement with communities of other faiths and society at large. It is registered with the Internal Revenue Service under revenue code 501(c)(3).ĮPIC is a multi-ethnic, multi-racial, multi-lingual, non-sectarian, diverse, and open community committed to full and equal participation and involvement of men and women who are community members of EPIC and subscribe to accept its rules, regulations, and procedures. The mosque is one of many mosques in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.ĮPIC is a non-profit tax-exempt organization (with Tax-ID: 20–0629612) that has been formed exclusively for educational, religious, and social purposes. The current Imam is Nadim Bashir, and the current resident scholar is Yasir Qadhi. The current building of the masjid opened in July 2015, although the mosque started a decade earlier. The East Plano Islamic Center ( EPIC) is a mosque located in Plano, Texas. “We’re a growing community that’s trying to do a lot of programs,” said EPIC member and volunteer Obaid Siddiqui. When completed, the center’s family programs would be launched to served the Muslim community. They dress differently, but that doesn’t make us any different or prevent them from doing things men do.” “There are a lot of ideas about women in our community. “I hope people come to our open houses and give us a chance to explain who we are,” he said. 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. It’s a place with “counseling, help to the community, medical clinic, outreach.” “His masjid was not just a place to pray,” Isa said. It also serves the Muslim community, offering young students classes on the noble Qur’an.Īccording to the mosque managers, the organization’s model is based on the masjid built in 622 by Muhammad, the Islamic prophet. The mosque also has an on-site medical clinic for low-income and uninsured members of the community, open each Saturday.ĮPIC also supports local food pantries, works to educate the community about Islam and collects donations for charities and needy families. I saw all of these different people coming together. “I saw people working here, volunteers who inspired me. “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. The center has been attracting volunteers who work in its outreach programs and community services. The new facility will have about 3,200 prayer spaces. 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. 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. ‘You guys are just sitting on the money,’” Isa said. “We had a lot of pressure from the community. The project had been envisioned since the organization’s inception, but work began when the organization had collected about $900,000. 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.Īt this point, the dream for the new 33,000-square-foot facility appeared, for which an estimated $5 million was needed to complete construction.Ī 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 plan is that eventually, this will be rented out.” “This is called a temporary mosque, called a musalla,” he said. The organization moved five years later to its current facility, a building of about 10,000 square feet, in 2008. “It started in someone’s garage, doing prayers,” Isa said. “The reward will continue as long as people continue to pray.”įor years, EPIC small center and mosque used to attract about 1000 worshippers from East Plano and neighboring cities.ĮPIC began with small gatherings of local Muslims in 2003 in east Plano. “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. 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.
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