All the graves face Mecca. Aossey added, “He wanted the cemetery at the highest hill in the city.”

It was from Cedar Rapids that yet another contribution to American Islam arose.

Fatima Smejkal, like many of her generation, is the daughter of a veteran. Her father, Abdullah Igram, of Cedar Rapids was sent to fight the Japanese in New Guinea during World War II. She recalled the story when he was asked what letter he wanted on his dog tags: “P” for Protestant, “C” for Catholic or “J” for Jewish, in case he died and would have to be buried.

He was told he could not have an “M.”

On his way to war, she said, he prayed to God that if he lived, he would make it so any man or woman would be able to have an “M” on their dog tag if they wanted one. He did live, and he eventually wrote to President Eisenhower. He got a letter back. There would be an “M.”

“I told that story at the Mother Mosque last year,” Smejkal said. “When I was finished, (a young man) stood up in the back of the room, held up his own dog tags and said, ‘And that is why I have an “M” on mine.’”

“I think it’s just wonderful,” she added.