In the summer of 1937, something remarkable happened in Cedar Rapids. At the third anniversary celebration of the nation’s first purpose-built mosque — now known as the Mother Mosque of America — Iowa Secretary of State Robert E. O’Brian gave the keynote address. He spoke in praise of religious diversity and lauded what he called “the splendid tolerance of the Moslem religion.”
O’Brian wasn’t alone. The event included readings and poems in Arabic and English, prayers from an imam visiting from Detroit, and readings from a 267-year-old Qur’an, believed at the time to be the oldest in the United States. Boys and girls from the mosque’s junior lodge sang “America.” One speaker, Sufi M. R. Bengalee of Chicago, declared that Islam had always stood for universal brotherhood, democracy, and peace. The mosque’s founders, mostly immigrants, invited the public to join. Prayers, poetry, and programs were arranged so non-Arabic speakers could understand.
It wasn’t the first time. In 1935, when the mosque was dedicated by the Rose of Fraternity Society, neighbors attended an open house. Later that year, the public was welcomed to a community dinner. Other events at the mosque were covered in the Cedar Rapids Gazette’s society pages. A teacher named Kemel Hind offered Arabic language instruction to anyone, regardless of religion, and the community’s school was likewise “open to folk of all denominations.”…