A Tribute to Northlake Jamatkhana, by Nausheen Husain

March 20, 2009 – A Tribute to Home

Yesterday was the last day of my childhood. As my friends and I left Northlake Jamatkhana (a mosque for Shia Ismaili Muslims located in Northlake, IL), we looked back and teared up a little bit. The jamatkhana would be closing down soon because of two new jamatkhanas being built in different towns, effectively splitting up our group of friends between the two. But this was not why the tears were flowing.

Through new friendships and fights, moves and colleges across the country, we had stuck together with the help of cell phones and Facebook. We would survive this as well. But this time, Northlake would not stick with us. As the founding location and headquarters of our group, Northlake has held a special place in all of our hearts and has served as another person in the group, everyone’s best friend. A friend that was never unavailable or mad at you, even if you were a little late, a friend that provided you with the support of a community and the satisfaction of living Islam.

Islam is a way of life; I learned this in Northlake Religious Education Center in the 5th grade. We talked about it as a class, reading an article about it in groups and covering all the important discussion points. But looking back, I realized that the concept itself was not reflected better anywhere than Northlake.

For the past 18 out of the mere 20 years of my existence, my home was Northlake.

Read the rest at http://blogs.nyu.edu/
About Nausheen Husain
Image collection, Minaz Hussein Rattansi at ArchNet