Written by Isaiah Woods-Kolsky and Safaya Smallwood

_{Original Location of Mosque #12 Located on 4218 Lancaster Avenue.}

Mosque 12 is currently located at 2508 N Broad Street. However, its original location was located at 4218 Lancaster Avenue in West Philadelphia. The mosque came to prominence in the early 1960s when the original building was leased by the Nation of Islam. In addition to being a mosque, it operated as a private college called the Mohammed University of Islam #12. The building itself was erected almost 120 years ago. Once it was established, religious leader Elijah Muhammad appointed Malcolm X as minister of the mosque. For a brief period of time, Wallace D. Muhammad, Elijah Muhammad’s son and a prominent Black Muslim leader at the time, was minister of the mosque, making it the only mosque where both Wallace D. Muhammad and Malcolm X served as ministers. In the 1970s, the mosque was associated with Philly’s Black Mafia, however, the leader of the Nation of Islam did not “approve of the Black Mafia’s presence” and they lost much of their power and influence in the mosque within a few years. In 1985, the Nation of Islam sold the building to the current owners, Hyderebad House Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to helping Muslims take part in education and the surrounding community. Mosque 12 moved to its current location on Broad Street a few years later.

_{An older image of Mosque #12’s original location.}

In 2016, a historical marker was erected outside Mosque 12’s original location on Lancaster Avenue. Abdul Rahim Muhammad, director of the New Africa Center, which is across the street from Mosque 12’s former address, had been part of a two-year struggle to get a historical marker placed for the mosque. However, three years later in early 2019, the marker was stolen. With the marker being stolen, Muhammad and others raised $1,600 to get the marker replaced. Abdul Muhammad says that “There is so much history here. And the marker is very important because we don’t want this piece of history to ever be taken for granted.” The area where the mosque was originally located carries additional significance as Martin Luther King Jr. led the Freedom Now rally nearby which brought 10,000 people together. The marker is part of a larger effort of preserving Black history in Philadelphia.

Bibliography

Carlisle, Dennis. “Peeling Back The Layers On Malcolm X’s Mosque #12.” Hidden City. 2017.

Mitchell, John N. “Marker Identifying Historic Mosque No. 12 Stolen.” The Philadelphia Tribune. 2019.

“Mosque 12.”