Kalamazoo Islamic Center

Established in 1975

Located at 1520 W. Michigan Avenue, the first religious organization to serve the city’s Muslim citizens has been a community mainstay since 1975, when a small group of students attending Western Michigan University established the Kalamazoo Islamic Center to provide a place for worship, support and fellowship. The congregation’s first address was just west of WMU’s campus at 823 Buckhout. It was here in 1979, when a rowdy crowd of student protesters calling themselves CAMEL (Citizens Against Middle East Life), broke one of the center’s windows after 50 U.S. citizens were taken hostage by the Iranian government. Inside the center, several Iranian students had taken up a fast to protest the arrest of Muslims who had been arrested after chaining themselves to the inside of the Statue of Liberty. Despite the tension and mistrust, much of it driven by international political conflict grounded in a long history few Americans understood at the time, Muslim students weathered the temporary animosity, and continued to grow their congregation as a religious and educational hub for Muslim students and non-students to utilize. The KIC was the only mosque between Chicago and Ann Arbor, and thus served more than just students attending WMU.

In the summer of 1983, the KIC was granted a building permit by city officials to begin work on the $20,000 renovation of a building along W. Michigan Avenue, between Sprague Avenue and Burrows Road. The construction work was completed in the summer of 1985. In the summer of 1984, the Kalamazoo Gazette wrote about KIC’s vice-president (later president) Umar F. Abdul-Mutakallim and the practice of fasting during Ramadan.

In 2017, a Congolese refugee named Ndoole Mamboleo moved his tailoring business inside of the KIC.  In 2023, the KIC purchased the building next door which formerly housed the long running restaurant, Bruno’s Pizza. A restaurant focused on Turkish meals called Ayasofya has since moved into the former pizza place. As with other religious organizations situated in Kalamazoo, the KIC collaborates with inter-faith events, provides for educational opportunities (elementary and high school aged children), coordinates community events around Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr, schedules daily prayer sessions, helps local university students, and distributes everyday assistance to those in need.

Article written by Ryan Gage, Kalamazoo Public Library staff, March 2026