In March of 2025, the heavens over Boston remained veiled in a persistent drizzle, with the sun gracing the sky only on occasion; the low temperatures, coupled with a damp chill, could not help but bring to mind the clime of Shanghai. By Allah's grace, as my wife attended her conference, Providence afforded me the opportunity to journey through Boston, and thus the disposition of the weather became a matter of little consequence. Indeed, in the days preceding my departure, a fervent anticipation led me to repeatedly consult the map, searching time and again for the keywords “masjid,” “mosque,” “muslim,” or “islam,” seeking out the Houses of Allah that I might be blessed to visit. The dense constellation of red markers that appeared upon the map bore witness to the vast and deeply vibrant Muslim ummah of Boston. As my time was decreed to be short, within the span of a two-day weekend sojourn, I was only able to make a humble visitation to seven of Boston's masjids.
 


I. The Commuter Rail

The transportation network of Boston is indeed well-developed. Depending upon one's region of origin, the journey to Boston may be undertaken by airplane, the American railway (Amtrak), motorcoach, or by one's own conveyance. Within the city itself, one finds transport by bus, subway, and the commuter rail. A single fare for the subway and bus begins at a modest $2.40, with a round trip costing $4.80; one may also procure a rechargeable Charlie Card, which is akin to the transport card of Shanghai and covers various modes of travel. The fare is determined according to the distance of the journey. A fare of $2.40 suffices for travel to the city proper and its immediate suburbs, yet for a distance comparable to that from Ren Guang to Lin Gang, the price would ascend to upwards of ten dollars. The commuter rail is a rather unique form of train, for it not only connects the northern and southern regions of the Boston area but also extends its reach to the surrounding cities, much like the intercity trains of the Pearl River Delta.

As my own city lies but forty miles distant from Boston, the Boston rail company has extended its commuter rail line to our local station, with a one-way passage requiring only $12.50. And upon every weekend, a pass for unlimited travel is made available for a mere ten dollars. When measured against the tickets of Amtrak, which can command prices from thirty to eighty dollars, the commuter rail is remarkably inexpensive. The method of verifying fares on the commuter rail is also quite elementary; travelers may board and purchase their passage, and after the train commences its journey, a conductor proceeds through the carriage to inspect each ticket individually. For those travelers whose fares are confirmed, a small slip of paper is inserted into the back of the seat ahead, signifying that the occupant seated behind it has settled their passage. I found myself harboring great doubt as to the efficiency of this method of inspection.
 


I remained deeply skeptical of the efficiency of this inspection. Perhaps it was ordained that our travel coincided with the festival of Saint Patrick; on this return journey from Boston, the carriage was filled to overflowing, yet the conductor tasked with inspecting fares never manifested. It may be that he, too, deemed inspecting an entire carriage before the next station an impossible charge. It is worthy of note that the purchase of tickets is not bound to one's name, nor is there any security screening before boarding, and upon disembarking, one finds no ticket barriers or similar apparatus. Consequently, on this particular sojourn, those who had not procured their tickets in advance were, in effect, granted free passage upon the intercity train. Does it then follow that if the conductor is negligent in his duty or turns a blind eye, the traveler is absolved of the need to purchase a fare? This conjecture was soon put to the test and affirmed during two of my other journeys. On one occasion, after boarding, I proceeded directly to the heart of the carriage to take my seat; before me, a few other travelers were sparsely seated. After the train began to move, the conductor approached the first traveler to verify his passage. As for myself, I sat in quiet repose by the window, my credit card in hand, waiting in customary fashion to purchase my ticket. Yet, after inspecting that one individual, the conductor returned to his own seat, as if he had chosen a single representative for the entire carriage's right of passage—one soul pays the fare, and the whole company benefits from the blessing. In a state of bewilderment, I approached the conductor's station and informed him that I had not yet purchased my passage. The conductor offered a verbal apology, yet the expression upon his face was one of profound lethargy, and he appeared altogether unconcerned. Another instance was more bewildering still; just before my stop, the conductor came to my seat and inquired as to my destination. I informed him of my stopping place and clarified that I had yet to secure my ticket. The conductor replied, “I am aware,” and then vanished, never to be seen again. And so it was that until the moment I stepped off the train, I found no one from whom I could purchase my fare.
 
 
 

II. An Overview of the Muslim Community in the Boston Area:

In the Greater Boston area, the Muslim Ummah is a diverse tapestry, encompassing more than 50 different masjids, schools, and community organizations, with a population exceeding 50,000 souls (in the broad sense of the Muslim community). The Muslim population of Greater Boston, which in its nascence was composed principally of African Americans, has now grown to encompass immigrants from the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia, as well as converts of European and American heritage and self-identifying secular Muslims. Located in Ruxbury, the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center stands as an iconic testament to Islam in Boston.

The voluntary immigration of Muslims to the United States commenced in the late 19th century, with the majority of them hailing from Lebanon and Syria; some of these immigrants, including both Christians and Muslims, settled in the Boston area in the early 20th century. Quincy served as the first port of call for these immigrant families. In the year 1934, these families, alongside other Arabic-speaking Muslims of the region, joined together to form a cultural, social, and charitable organization known as the "Arab American Banner Society." From 1937 to 1952, they would gather in an old house at 470 South Street in Quincy. Perceiving that the second generation was growing up with a weakened sense of their Islamic identity, the society began to organize informal religious classes and initiated activities such as the Friday Jummah and the prayers for the two great festivals of 'Eid. In 1962, the organization resolved to construct a masjid in Quincy. The masjid was completed in 1964, with the first-generation immigrant Muhammad Omar Awad serving as its Imam. As the oldest existing mainstream Sunni masjid in the Greater Boston area, its present name is the Islamic Center of New England in Quincy.
 


The decades of the 1970s and 80s ushered in a period of tremendous growth throughout the entire New England region. During this era, a multitude of vibrant Islamic organizations were established across New England, which gathered Muslims together to plan community events; the majority of the masjids were affiliated with these already-established various Muslim organizations. The foundational path of development was to first establish an organization and then to build a masjid; for example, the organization Dar Islam, which serves the Muslims of downtown Boston, does not yet have a permanent masjid of its own and must borrow the St. Paul Cathedral to hold the Jummah prayer.

The Islamic Council of New England (ICNE), established in 1984, administers over thirty masjids in Massachusetts and sponsors an annual conference on Islamic life in America. The New England Imams' Shura Council, an affiliate of the Islamic Council of New England, makes decisions on certain matters of Islamic law, such as determining the times of prayer, with the participation of the Imams and other leaders from each local Islamic center. The Council also provides materials for Islamic training and children's education, and it runs youth programs, summer camps, and athletic activities. The first nationwide Islamic organization in America, the Muslim Students' Association (MSA), is also active within universities such as Harvard, MIT, Boston University, Northeastern University, and Tufts University, helping Muslim students to coordinate their religious affairs on campus. In addition to this, the Islamic Society of Boston (ISB), established in 1982 and formerly an independent student Islamic association, administers two masjids, and the largest masjid in Boston is affiliated with this organization.

For a portion of the indigenous African American community, Islam is regarded as part of the spiritual inheritance from their African forebears, who were forcibly brought to the Americas through the transatlantic slave trade. They hold that the faith identity of the enslaved was, to a great extent, suppressed, and that the Islamic tradition should, by right, be "rediscovered." Based on this conviction, they founded certain pseudo-Islamic religions. In this wave, the first was Noble Drew Ali, who founded the Moorish Science Temple in 1913, followed by the more influential Nation of Islam, established by W.D. Fard in the 1930s, an organization later brought to greater prominence by Elijah Muhammad. The renowned leader of the Black civil rights movement, Malcolm X (later renamed el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz), was affiliated with this organization. Under the influence of Malcolm X, the boxing champion Ali became a member of this organization and was granted a new name by Elijah Muhammad: Muhammad Ali (Ali, too, would later return to orthodox Islam). The doctrines and teachings of this organization more fully embodied Black separatism, being the product of a re-imagining built upon Islamic nomenclature. In the late 1970s, the organization made deliberate moves toward the orthodox mainstream, and its leader went so far as to send his son, Wallace Deen Mohammed, to Egypt's Al-Azhar University to study orthodox doctrine, which laid the groundwork for the organization's future doctrinal shift. After the passing of Elijah Muhammad in 1975, his son, Wallace Deen Mohammed, led the majority of Black Muslims to forsake separatism and instead merge into the fold of the Sunni mainstream. The organization's masjids, Muhammad Mosque, subsequently became Sunni masjids or Islamic centers.
 

 


III. The Masjids:

When searching on a map with keywords such as masjid, mosque, islam, and muslim, the results may vary slightly. Compiling the map's information, there are more than ten masjids in the city of Boston and its surrounding areas, though most are distributed in the Ruxbury district; the largest masjid in Boston, and indeed in all of New England, the ISBCC (Islamic society of Boston culture center), is located in this very area. The most bustling downtown district has no independent masjid; as mentioned previously, Dar islam of Boston (DIB) borrows the downtown St. Paul Cathedral as a venue for the Friday Jummah, for the use of several hundred Muslims. In addition to the permanent masjids and the borrowed Jummah locations, there are also the Muslim Students' Associations (MSA) in the various schools. On the map, the distance from the northernmost masjid to the southernmost masjid is less than 20 kilometers; this distance is equivalent to that between Hongqiao Airport and Lujiazui.
 
 

 
Islamic Culture Center of Medford

Address: 43 High St, Medford, MA 02155
 
 


The Islamic Culture Center of Medford is situated in the city of Medford, not far from Tufts University. In the early days, the local brethren held their Jummah prayers in an Episcopal cathedral for four years, after which they purchased this house to serve as a masjid. I arrived at this masjid at nine in the morning, at which time the place was empty of people; the front door was locked, but by Allah's grace, a side door to the building was still open. My visit coincided with the week just before Ramadan, and the masjid had already posted a schedule for the community Iftars, calling for those who would make a niyyah to sponsor the meal for each day.
 


Many of Boston's masjids are established by purchasing existing single-family homes and converting them, and as a result, the internal renovations possess a rather unique character. The original layout and fixtures might not be altered, but are instead adapted for other uses as circumstances require. Back when I was in Pu-cun, I visited a masjid that had been converted from a bank; upon entering the main prayer hall, the massive iron door of the vault stood out right before you, having become a part of the wall itself. This masjid was no exception. The basement had been converted into a place for wudu, while the living room had become the prayer hall, and a fireplace in a small room happened to serve perfectly as the marker for the Qiblah. Every masjid in Boston has deep ties with the local community, and the masjid is never just a place for prayer: gatherings, education, consultation on affairs, and more all fall within the scope of the masjid's services.
 


The location of this masjid also has some connection to the first battle of the American Revolutionary War, the Battle of Lexington and Concord; in April of 1775, the local revolutionary leader Paul Revere once stopped his horse here to report news of the British forces to the local militia.
 


Islamic of Society of boston (ISB Cambridge)

Address：204 Prospect St, Cambridge, MA 02139
 


This masjid is located near the renowned academic institutions of Harvard and MIT. It is the first masjid established by the ISB, founded in the 1980s, and its presence enriched the religious architecture of the Cambridge area. I arrived precisely at the Shamu hour on a Saturday, and walking into the main hall, I found it filled with children, all gathered around their female teacher. The teacher seemed to be telling a story, and after she finished, each child was given a “crown.” The children who received them began to shout and run about wildly, yet the adults, for their part, paid them no mind; there was not a single word of rebuke. The adults, resting or praying in other parts of the hall, were not the least bit disturbed by the children. This state of affairs continued until the sound of the Bangk rang out, at which point the children knew to fall silent. After the Shamu prayer, the masjid's "Director of the Management Committee" warmly invited everyone to come for Iftar at the masjid and thanked them for their support. I knew who this person was because upon entering, I had seen a poster announcing his appointment. In the top left corner was his personal bio and photograph, while the rest of the poster was filled with commendations for him from the police, the city government, and various other agencies. From this, one can see that the masjid is tied in real tight with its surrounding district, and that selecting a masjid administrator requires someone who can not only handle the internal affairs of the house of worship but also coordinate a whole host of external matters. That's a tough gig.
 


Boston Islamic Center (BIC)

Address：2870 Washington St, Roxbury, MA 02119
 


Drawn by the grand name "Boston Islamic Center" on the map, I went to this masjid, all fired up for Jummah. From a good ways off, I saw the familiar crescent and dome, and though the dome was so small it looked like a little mosquito bite, it didn't diminish the majestic image of the masjid in my heart one bit. It's a rare thing, really, to see a masjid that actually looks like a masjid. By the time I had made my ablutions and settled in, the Imam's khutbah was not yet concluded. The Imam first spoke in Arabic, followed immediately by English, and finally by a language I had never heard before, with the duration of his sermon in each of the three languages being about the same. I later learned at another masjid that this one wasn't really much of a "Center," and that most of the people who come are Somali; the language I couldn't understand was Somali. After the prayer concluded, two volunteers stood at the door of the masjid, calling out to the people passing by with cries of “salam sange nietie!”. A dollar from you, twenty cents from me—it was through everyone's "mustard seed" of good deeds that the masjid's operations were sustained. I learned from a financial statement posted on the wall that to maintain a small-to-medium-sized masjid like this one requires about $9,000 a month—no small expense.
 


Islamic of Society of Boston Culture Center（ISBCC Ruxbury）

Address：100 Malcolm X Blvd, Roxbury, MA 02120
 


Coming out of BIC, I met a fellow from Rhode Island who had also come for Jummah. Turns out his hometown is Boston, and his parents live in this very area. He told me that there was a massive masjid nearby that was well worth checking out. Taking his advice, I headed straight for the masjid he spoke of—the ISBCC.
 


The Islamic Society of Boston Culture Center (ISBCC) has, over the past two decades, stood as a potent symbol of the development of Islam in Boston, and also as a microcosm of intergroup relations and the image of Islam in the city. Throughout the entire process of its planning and construction, the center was continually embroiled in legal and cultural conflicts, and its inauguration was, for many Muslims, a significant milestone. The road to the ISBCC's completion was incredibly winding: besides the issue of cost—a brother told me this masjid cost 12 million dollars to build—negative press also constantly battered the image of the masjid and the Muslim community. The Boston Herald once openly accused several leaders of the ISB of having ties to extremist organizations.

Among these, a rather significant controversy arose when a Jewish organization, “The David Project,” found a local resident to file a lawsuit against the ISBCC, arguing that the city had sold the land at a price below its market value, an act which violated the separation of church and state. The ISBCC filed its own countersuit, accusing the media groups of defamation. After the case brought by the opponents of the masjid's construction was dismissed in early 2007, the lawsuit was ultimately withdrawn. On June 26, 2009, the ISBCC held its public inauguration ceremony.

Today, the ISBCC has developed into an active participant in the public sphere of Boston, providing a wide range of social services to the region's Muslims and non-Muslims alike. The ISBCC is also the host for many other community groups and activities, such as the summer Quran academy for Muslim children and the Friday night gatherings for young Muslims. As the largest Islamic center in the New England region, the ISBCC is without a doubt the most prominent Islamic landmark in the Greater Boston area.

This interaction with society is, in my view, a form of silent testimony against the slander, as it seems wickedness must always be linked with the Muslim community. A masjid that can accommodate three thousand people for prayer means that within its walls you will meet professors from the surrounding universities, and you will also meet recent immigrants from Asia and Africa who have just moved to Boston. The masjid is a public space, and it can create a connection with anyone; you cannot say a bookstore gave a murderer his motive and ideological source just because he often frequented it. In '13, the police shot and killed a suspect right next to the masjid. The police came into the masjid to investigate because the suspect had once worked there as a security guard. And even though the Imam explained to the police that the suspect did not come to the masjid regularly, he still received hundreds of phone calls from the media after the incident. The believers in Boston directly face all kinds of islamophobia in the form of propaganda and slander, yet they still continually explain to the public, “We are not terrorists.”

The exterior of the masjid is of a classic Islamic architectural style, with a towering minaret, a dome, and a crescent moon upon the dome. Upon entering, the prayer hall is to the left, and directly opposite the prayer hall is a café, where one can have a meal or drink a cup of coffee. By the time I wandered in here, my legs were aching from all the walking. After praying the tahiyyatul-masjid in the main hall, I went over to the café across the way, ordered a coffee, and started scrolling through my phone. And what do you know, a brother walked straight up to me and said he saw me earlier at BIC during the Jummah prayer. We got to talking, and by sheer coincidence, we both knew the same old buddy who had recommended this masjid to me. He told me that he was born in Somalia, has been in Boston for over 20 years, and now works as an accountant. I watched as he greeted people coming and going and saw he was on very familiar terms with the café staff; I figured he was probably a volunteer here. It was from him that I learned that BIC, where we had just prayed our Jummah, is a masjid comprised mainly of Somalis.
 

 
 

 
Masjid al Quran (Muhammad Temple 11)
Address: 35 Intervale St, Boston, MA 02121
 
 


As early as 1957, the Nation of Islam (NOI) purchased this building, originally a synagogue, and named it Temple No. 11. The mosque’s name evolved from Temple No. 11 to Mosque No. 11 and finally to Masjid al Quran, marking its shift from fringe separatism to Sunni doctrine. The mosque’s founding leader and founder was the renowned Malcolm X, with his successor being the later NOI leader Farrakhan. As early as 1965, the mosque’s first orthodox imam, Shakir Mahmoud, had already reached out to Boston’s orthodox Muslims to study mainstream Islamic teachings. In 1977, Shakir became the imam of 多切斯特 Mosque. Under his leadership, the community gradually embraced the mainstream Islam advocated by W.D. Muhammad. In 1981, Louis Farrakhan led a group of followers away from the orthodox Islamic path, revived the spiritual legacy of Elijah Muhammad, re-established the NOI, and built another Mosque No. 11 next to the original one. To distinguish it from the NOI-affiliated mosque, the original Mosque No. 11 was renamed Masjid al-Qur’an. My friend chuckled and told me that Farrakhan’s new “mosque” used to be a funeral home—members jokingly called it the “cold body room.”
 


This mosque’s interior layout differs from others: a row of seats curves in a semicircle around the pulpit, reflecting their previous preaching style. Taking a close look at the pamphlets on the wall and the books on the shelves is a quick way to get the mosque’s basic info. The mosque sells various Islamic books, with many works by W.D. Muhammad. The “Haji board” on the wall caught my eye instantly, listing every pilgrim from this mosque. My friend proudly said that his parents’ names were on it. Nowadays this mosque is no longer just for African American Muslims; it welcomes Muslims of all ethnic backgrounds for prayer.




Another mosque stands just across the street, but even on a Friday its doors were closed, and I’m not sure why. When I asked around, people said it likely belongs to an immigrant community.
 


Mosque for Prasing Allah
Address: 724 Shawmut Ave, Boston, MA 02119
 


This mosque, without even a proper street number, offers services like marriage, funeral rites, education, and employment assistance. It’s run by the Society for Islamic Brotherhood (S.I.B.). In 1970, the S.I.B. leased 724 Shawmut Ave and later purchased the building, making it one of Boston’s oldest surviving mosques. From 1980 to 1983, the mosque also supported a full‑time Islamic elementary school. On the ground floor of the mosque is a small shop selling Islamic books and prayer robes. If you enter through the shop’s left door, you’ll find a wudu area on the first floor; up the stairs on the second floor are the women’s prayer room and offices. The third floor is the men’s prayer hall. The space is modest, fitting at most a hundred or two men.
 



Muhammad Mosque 11 (New)
Do not go there, you cannot pray there. It’s an NOI event venue.
 



Other Sects

Besides the large Sunni communities in Greater Boston, various Shia Muslims—such as the Jafarite school (Twelver Imams), the Ismailis (Dawoodi Bohra and Nizari)—as well as the Qadianis (the so‑called Ahmadiyya) have also established their own prayer centers. Below are the names of some mosques set up by these groups; it’s advised that the general Sunni populace steer clear:

Dawoodi Bohra Anjuman‑e‑Ezzi
 


Islamic Masumeen Center of New England
 


Ismaili Center & Jamatkhana

Masjid Baitul Zikr
  view all