The Islamic Center of New Mexico

MashaAllah great masjid. I was there for a business trip and offered Maghrib and Isha prayers there. All the brothers including Imam were very welcoming.

The photo of ICNM on this site, as of Sept 29th, 2008, belongs to the old building. I agree with the above comments on the previous building, but it was interesting design (like an alien spaceship landed near the airport, well, in the end we are in NM, land of Roswell, aren't we? :) ). Anyway, the new building is nice. However, there is still this vague area between the "outside" and "inside" the mosque, where people are not really sure whether they should step with or without the shoes. Some do some don't. So, the dirts of the shoes mix with the socks, which eventually get inside the prayer area, and makes the area dirty. I think that mopre shoe racks should be put inside, so that people take out their shoes at the entrance of the very outer doors, pick their shoes with their hands, and carry them to the racks, not walk to the racks. So there will be a well defined, shoe-free area. However, during Ramadan that area is used for eating, and gets dirty quickly, not makeing it very suitable to walk with socks. This is issue is present in all middle eastern mosques I have seen in the US, unfortunately.

We have just recently moved in albuquerque, and the presence of Masjid in this town is very good. They organize many activities in which all muslims are invited. Their website has complete infrmation about all the on going activities. I think it is a great mosque for men and women to gather on fridays and on special occasions and get to know each other and all the muslims living in the vicinity, the mosque is very clean and well-kept. Seperate area for women and children is very clean, tidy and open. I love coming to this mosque for prayers and meeting my fellow muslims

Bismillah - This masjid has undergone a major renovation since the last review. The entire building was demolished and completely reconstructed from the foundation up. It now has a very beautiful traditional Islamic design combined with traditional New Mexican adobe look. I love the beautiful green dome and adobe minaret. It is very eye catching and a true star for the state of New Mexico and city of Albuquerque as well as a credit to the Muslim community in that city. When I first moved to Albuquerque, the masjid was already demolished and we were praying in a small building on the masjid property which used to be a restaurant. A temporary tent was also put up for the 5 daily salat and Jummah. I am always impressed with the number of people who attend the daily salat. I often find people at the masjid for each salat, including Fajr and especially Isha. The masjid also has several areas inside that function well including a huge area for the sisters, two large lobby areas (one on the men's side, one on the women's). They've also gone high-tech with a state of the art audio/visual system on both the sides. Large, attractive yet functional wudu areas serve well. One room has been dedicated for a library and hiw'ar area. The masjid also has ample parking on both sides of the building. Finally, they've built in facilities for funeral services. The brother who is currently in the role of imam does a fine job leading and giving lectures, however he does not speak English so knowledgeable people from the community lead Jummah and transfer is daily talks. I pray that Allah (SWT) sends an appropriate imam to this community who knows the Deen well, understands the cultural diversity, speaks English as well as Arabic and possibly Urdu and Spanish. The masjid opened during the last week of two Ramadans ago. Congratulations to ICNM for doing a beautiful job with the new masjid.

There is this tension I have when reviewing mosques. Inside there may be beneficial activities and programs (after all it is a place of prayer) but the building itself lets down what goes on inside and lets down how you perceive it from outside. Before I ever saw this mosque, I had heard about it from one of its founders who praised its "bold", "modern", "creative" design. You name the superlatives - they were used. Upon visiting it for the first time - it was Maghrib and I was staying in a hotel down the street - I walked by it not once, not twice, but three times, before a rather hidden sign indicated that the strange white building, blackened by years of soot and dirt (uncleaned, of course) that kind of sat in the ground was the mosque. It was locked. I waited and waited and nothing happened - no one came. So let us leave aside the internal dynamics etc. The building, so praised for it bold style, looks nothing like a mosque at all. It is an alien building that fits into nothing - it is an unmitigated, architectural disaster. Don't let the picture above fool you - it merely indicates that the community has realised that they need a new building and Allah help them raise the money as fast as they can. The original building lacks any redeemable design qualities. It has strange, chimney like turrets and terraced, steppe like levels that communicate nothing. It is self-indulgent, modernist architecture at its worst. Sorry, but its true. So sad it is a House of God.