The Islamic Center of McLean County (ICMC) is a place of worship and much more for the Muslim community in McLean County. ICMC was founded in the year 2016, when Islamic Center of Bloomington-Normal (ICBN) and Masjid Ibrahim were merged together to form a new organization. ICMC provides Muslim community of McLean County a place to practice their religion; by attending the five daily prayers and Friday prayer, that are held there, attend classes to educate themselves about their holy book (The Qur’an), socialize with other Muslims in their community, presenting information about Islam to educate those who may want to learn more, and promoting friendly relations and understanding between Muslims and non-Muslims.
There is a very rich diversity amongst the Muslims in this community. People that go to events and prayers in this facility may come from places such as India and Pakistan, as well as Afghanistan, Turkey, Morocco, Tunisia, Senegal, Sudan, Malaysia, the United States, and plenty of other countries.
ICBN was the first mosque in Bloomington-Normal area and was founded in the year 2000. There were many steps the few Muslims in this community (before the year 2000) had to take to build the first mosque.
In 1974, there was an ISU instructor from Pakistan, who had begun organizing Friday prayers (Jumu’ah) and delivered sermons at the Campus Religious Center (CRC). This was about the first time Bloomington/Normal had regularly held Jumu’ah prayers.
When the 1980’s came along, the sermons were led by a physician from India, a business owner from Palestine, several ISU students, and numerous others. A resident of BloNo, who had been a Supreme Court Justice in Afghanistan and a graduate student from Jordan, gave sermons mainly at the CRC starting in the early 90’s. In 1995, a Pakistani-American student was able to revive the Muslim Student Association (MSA) at ISU after its five to eight year absence. She became the MSA president. A year later, more activities began to come about to bring the Muslim students and residents together. There were annual picnics and soon, Potlucks that took place.
In the late 90’s, plans for the Islamic Center were brought up by the new MSA president, a Pakistani/Indian-American student. They created a detailed plan on how to start this project and began completing the paperwork to get there. This was done with the help of another resident from Pakistan who had held Arabic classes at his home. There was a lack of funding and participation at the time, but then in the year 2000, a Site Committee arose. It was made up of about ten residents and was formed to search for a location that Muslims can go to for worship.
Through their teamwork, the ICBN came to be a great place for the community to come together and enjoy each others company, and strengthen their relationship with Allah.
Later on, as the community grew, Masjid Ibrahim was formed and functioned for around 10 years. Eventually, the needs of the Muslim community outgrew the facilities at ICBN and Masjid Ibrahim and ICMC was formed and established a new prayer area on Olympia Dr.
A multipurpose building was built first that houses a gym, classrooms, area for social gathering and all the prayers. A new mosque is being built on the same site, which will be attached to the multipurpose building.