A $9 million project for a new mosque is expected to be completed next year in Charlotte. Pillars Mosque will serve the city’s growing population and diverse Muslim community, which includes an increasing number of converts. The project is led by John Ederer — the mosque’s imam — who is white and also a convert. In a state long part of the Bible belt, converts in the local community highlight the reasons behind being drawn to the religion.
One recent afternoon, the adhan echoed inside the current Pillars Mosque near the University City area, summoning Muslims such as Charnissa Warren to pray. Warren is a Creole African American who was born in Tennessee. The 45-year-old convert says she was drawn to Islam for several reasons.
“The devotion. The discipline, the focus on God, and the way of life,” Warren said…