Muslim group wants to build Carmel's first mosque; residents in upscale neighborhoods object

CARMEL — Over the past decade Carmel has added a Jewish synagogue, a Greek Orthodox Church and a Mormon temple to its firmament of sacred spaces. A church for the Coptic Orthodox, a Christian sect with roots in Egypt, is nearing completion.

Yet in the state's most affluent community, one eager to land international companies, a glaring void exists in its constellation of faiths: a house of worship for Muslims.

Now, a congregation that has been meeting in a cramped office space south of 96th Street in Indianapolis is looking to change that by building Carmel's first mosque.

The Al Salam Foundation, whose members are drawn mostly from Carmel, Westfield and Zionsville, is proposing the mosque at 141st Street and Shelborne Road. Initial plans call for a building with minaret and a dome topped by a crescent moon.

The Islamic life center, as it's also being called, is being welcomed by faith leaders and by Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard, who view a mosque as a milestone, a symbol of the city’s diversity and an enticement for international businesses looking for a friendly place to relocate.

Yet the proposed mosque also faces opposition from residents of the upscale neighborhoods nearby, where homes can sell for more than $700,000. Concerns swirl about property values hurt by additional traffic and calls to prayer from the minaret disturbing the peace, something not actually in the plans. From some quarters, there have even been objections to the religion itself.

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For the Al Salam congregation, a diverse group that includes immigrants from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh but also their American-born children and converts to the faith, the mosque in Carmel would be not just an issue of convenience but also one of permanence.

“For our faith, our Islamic tradition, to take root here we need to have an institution,” said Ashhar Madni, a member of Al Salam's board of directors and a native of India. “It’s a focal point.”

The congregation’s current meeting space, 5 miles south of the proposed site, is a rented suite of offices across I-465 from the office tower complex known as the Pyramids. For Friday prayers, 150 people attempt to squeeze into the space. Latecomers must step gingerly through a narrow foyer covered with shoes shed by earlier arrivals. During holidays, overflow crowds spill out of the building. Leaders say more people would come, but there simply isn't room.

Madni, an information technology specialist for a health care company, and fellow board member Ashraf Saeed, a research scientist with Eli Lilly, chose the office suites thinking they offered plenty of room. On the first Friday when prayer services were held, in February 2012, the place was nearly full. Attendance grew from there.

“It was not a grand plan,” said Dr. Wagar Hasan, a Zionsville psychiatrist and a member of the community’s board of directors. “It just started to escalate as people started to gravitate.”

Muslims represent less than 1 percent of Indiana's population — smaller than the state's Jewish population, according to estimates by the Pew Research Center. But the Muslim community is growing. In and around Indianapolis, at least 10 Muslim congregations exist. Aside from Al Salam, the nearest mosques for Carmel residents are in Fishers, Plainfield and Cold Spring Road on Indianapolis' northwest side.

Al Salam is among the city's newest congregations.

Sara Heiliger, who grew up on the west side and now lives in Westfield, regularly attends services at Al Salam. She describes the place as “open and welcoming.” Unlike some mosques in the city, which segregate women in different rooms from men during Friday services (often leaving women unable to see the preaching imam), Al Salam women take seats in the main prayer room with a good view, albeit from the back.

“We’re very happy,” she said. “That’s how it should be — that we’re right here in the mix.”

The prospect of the new mosque appeals to Heiliger, and to others at Al Salam, for practical reasons.

Muslims may perform their five daily prayers at home, work or even in public, but aspects of their faith encourage them to pray in the mosque, particularly on Fridays and during Ramadan. With work and traffic, getting to 96th Street on a Friday afternoon can be problematic. Similarly, post-sunset feasts and prayers during Ramadan can mean late nights for families.

The 15-acre Shelborne Road location sits in the heart of where most Al Salam's members live. At 28,000-square feet, it would offer plenty of room — space for 350 people — for Friday prayers, fast-breaking banquets during Ramadan and family activities. While plans call for 102 parking spaces, nearly two-thirds of the property would be devoted to green space, including a bike path along both 141st and Shelborne.

The sticking point is the area is zoned residential. For the mosque to happen, the Carmel Board of Zoning Appeals must approve a request for a special use for the 5 acres where the building will sit. The matter is set to get a hearing on Jan. 22.

Already, opponents are making their voices heard.

Residents voiced objections to the mosque earlier this week before the Carmel City Council, which has no say in the matter. An online petition opposing the Islamic center has gained more than 1,000 signatures. And more than 100 people — many of them homeowners from the Overbrook Farms, Grannan Grove and Long Ridge Estates communities — sent emails and letters to the zoning board to outline their opposition in detail. Nineteen letters have been written in support.

The concerns span an array of logistical issues: additional traffic on narrow country roads, light pollution from the parking lot, "white noise" from running HVAC systems, angst that a call to prayer will be broadcast on loudspeakers five times a day from the minaret. Some expressed concerns that the Islamic center would host a school while others likened the building to a "massive commercial structure" that would harm the “quiet country feel” of the area. Many opponents, sharing a common not-in-my-backyard sentiment, suggested other locations.

But the objections haven't been totally free of religious overtones. A Zionsville resident wrote Carmel officials to voice concern about what would be taught in the mosque. A couple of the posts on the online petition cited religious objections.

For most, though, the bottom line is fear the Islamic center will hurt property values.

Kristian Lee, a real estate agent who filed one of the objections, said a deal he was making to sell a property in the area already has been put on hold by the mosque proposal. “If the life center is given approval for construction,” Lee wrote, “those buyers will walk away.”

Al Salam leaders say they are glad to answer questions people have. They say they have no plans for a school; their minaret will not be equipped with a loudspeaker (most American mosques post prayer schedules in their buildings or online); and the bulk of the traffic load will be confined to one hour on Friday afternoons. Still, they say, they are open to seeking solutions.

"Our approach to this is we are not trying to ignore this," Madni said. "Anybody has the right to express their concerns."

Even so, city officials say houses of worship routinely are allowed to locate in residential areas. The Islamic center plans reflect Carmel's long-term plan to add a roundabout at 141st and Shelborne, when traffic warrants. And this proposal, said director of community services Mike Hollibaugh, bears similarities to another project that has been approved and is almost ready for use: the Coptic Orthodox Church.

Like the mosque, the Coptic Church is situated near residential subdivisions on Shelborne Road, about 2 miles south of the mosque site. The church has tall domes topped with religious symbols. In the case of the Coptic church, crosses.

In its early planning stages, Carmel received no letters or public testimony in opposition to the Coptic church.

Al Salam has found allies in the Carmel Interfaith Alliance, a group of faith leaders from across the religious spectrum. And Brainard said he doesn't think the brunt of concerns by Carmel residents are based on religion but rather are typical for such projects in residential areas.

“I’ve been mayor for 22 years, and I’ve never seen a proposal like this — whether it’s from the Methodists or a mosque — that doesn’t generate interest and questions like this from neighbors who are concerned about any change having a negative impact for them,” he said.

Brainard, who has hosted Al Salam members in his home for a Ramadan fast-breaking meal, said he hopes Carmel will welcome the mosque into the city, if not at the proposed location then at another. It's not just the right thing to do, he said, but smart for economic development.

“If we are trying to attract corporate headquarters — national headquarters and international headquarters — and people from whatever faith tradition or country don’t feel welcome, we’re not going to succeed in keeping those headquarters or attracting more.”

Al Salam leaders say that even if they gain Carmel's blessing for their new mosque, the project is a minimum of two years from being built and probably further out than that. But they are hopeful the questions from their neighbors can be resolved.

"We are learning as we move forward with this project," said Hasan, president of Al Salam's board of directors. "There are some hurdles maybe, but we hope we can convince our neighbors that we are part of the community and we are part of the solution."

Call Robert King at (317) 444-6089. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.