... that the Dzemijetul Hajrije is the oldest Muslim organization in the United States? It is a benevolent society started in 1906 to help Bosniak Muslim immigrants from Bosnia.
History
The first Bosniaks settled in Chicago in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, joining other immigrants seeking better opportunities and better lives.
As the former Yugoslavia continued to find its identity as a nation over the last century, the people of Bosnia sought stability and new beginnings in the city of Chicago, many intending to return to their homeland. (Bosniaks) were early leaders in the establishment of Chicago’s Muslim community. In 1906, they established Dzemijetul Hajrije (The Benevolent Society) of Illinois to preserve the community’s religious and national traditions.
In the late 1800s, many young men came from Bosnia to Chicago to work in construction. They built roads, buildings, and tunnels for the Chicago commuter trainsystem.
Many Bosniaks worked on the tunnels for Arif Dilich’s Paschen Construction Company, a large company in Chicago. The Dzemijetul Hajrije was like a family to the many young single men. It had religious services and special activities for Eid and other holidays. It helped pay for medical expenses and funerals.
Many Bosniaks also lived in Gary, Indiana and worked in the steel mills. Another group of Bosniaks went to work in the copper mines in Butte, Montana.
Dzemijetul Hajrije started chapters in Gary, Indiana in 1913, Wilpen, Pennyslvania in 1915, and Butte, Montana in 1916.
They did not have a mosque, but they met in coffeehouses. In 1956, the last Bosnian coffeehouse closed.
Chicago's Bosniak community received a new influx of migrants after World War II who were displaced by the war and Communist takeover. This new wave of refugees included many well-educated professionals, some of whom were forced to take lower-skilled jobs as taxi cab drivers, factory workers, chauffeurs, and janitors. As the population increased in the early 1950s, the community invited Sheik Kamil Avdich, a prominent Muslim scholar, to become the first permanent imam (religious minister). Under Imam Kamil's leadership, the Bosniak Muslim Religious and Cultural Home was established to raise funds for a mosque, which opened on Halsted Street in 1957. In 1968, the organization's name was changed to the Bosniak American Cultural Association, and in the early 1970s it purchased land in Northbrook to build a larger mosque and cultural center. The Islamic Cultural Center of Greater Chicago has remained an important center for Bosniak Muslim religious activity, serving Bosniaks and non-Bosniak Muslims in the Chicago metropolitan area.
History
The first Bosniaks settled in Chicago in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, joining other immigrants seeking better opportunities and better lives.
As the former Yugoslavia continued to find its identity as a nation over the last century, the people of Bosnia sought stability and new beginnings in the city of Chicago, many intending to return to their homeland. (Bosniaks) were early leaders in the establishment of Chicago’s Muslim community. In 1906, they established Dzemijetul Hajrije (The Benevolent Society) of Illinois to preserve the community’s religious and national traditions.
In the late 1800s, many young men came from Bosnia to Chicago to work in construction. They built roads, buildings, and tunnels for the Chicago commuter trainsystem.
Many Bosniaks worked on the tunnels for Arif Dilich’s Paschen Construction Company, a large company in Chicago. The Dzemijetul Hajrije was like a family to the many young single men. It had religious services and special activities for Eid and other holidays. It helped pay for medical expenses and funerals.
Many Bosniaks also lived in Gary, Indiana and worked in the steel mills. Another group of Bosniaks went to work in the copper mines in Butte, Montana.
Dzemijetul Hajrije started chapters in Gary, Indiana in 1913, Wilpen, Pennyslvania in 1915, and Butte, Montana in 1916.
They did not have a mosque, but they met in coffeehouses. In 1956, the last Bosnian coffeehouse closed.
Chicago's Bosniak community received a new influx of migrants after World War II who were displaced by the war and Communist takeover. This new wave of refugees included many well-educated professionals, some of whom were forced to take lower-skilled jobs as taxi cab drivers, factory workers, chauffeurs, and janitors. As the population increased in the early 1950s, the community invited Sheik Kamil Avdich, a prominent Muslim scholar, to become the first permanent imam (religious minister). Under Imam Kamil's leadership, the Bosniak Muslim Religious and Cultural Home was established to raise funds for a mosque, which opened on Halsted Street in 1957. In 1968, the organization's name was changed to the Bosniak American Cultural Association, and in the early 1970s it purchased land in Northbrook to build a larger mosque and cultural center. The Islamic Cultural Center of Greater Chicago has remained an important center for Bosniak Muslim religious activity, serving Bosniaks and non-Bosniak Muslims in the Chicago metropolitan area.
