A New Mosque Rises in Alaska

Alaska's small but growing Muslim community is building the state's first newly constructed mosque.

"This is our future," said Osama Obeidi, one of the Muslim-Americans leading the building effort for the Islamic Community Center of Anchorage. "We have second-generation Alaskans now, and new people coming all the time. We need a place to call home."

The 15,000-square-foot mosque, taking shape near a Sons of Norway Viking Hall, will eventually include a Sunday school and a community center with twin minarets.

The mosque is perhaps the clearest sign yet that Islam in the US is rapidly pushing beyond traditional population centers such as Detroit and Los Angeles.

American Muslims grow through  immigration as well as birthrates and conversions. The Muslim population in the US is expected to more than double by 2030, to 6.2 million, according to a 2011 Pew Research Center study.

Source: Wall Street Journal