West County Mosque Holds First Police Academy Graduation for Citizens

St. Louis County Police said more than 50 St. Louis area Muslims competed the mosque's first-ever citizen police academy. The graduation ceremony was this week.

Wednesday night, a graduation ceremony was held at the Daar-ul-Islam Mosque located at Weidman and Manchester roads for its first-ever Citizen Police Academy. (Sign up here for the FREE Patch Newsletter, including Breaking News Alerts.) As previously reported by Patch, the St. Louis County Police West County Precinct partnered with the Islamic Foundation and offered the eight-week course to mosque members. (Read Previous Story: First Ever Police Training Offered at West County Mosque) St. Louis County Police said more than 50 members of the Muslim community graduated this week from the course that began in November. St. Louis County Police Chief Tim Fitch and County Executive Charley Dooley attended the ceremony. Adil Imdad, the outreach …

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First Ever Police Training Offered at West County Mosque

The St. Louis County Police Department is hosting it first ever Citizen Police Academy at a St. Louis area Muslim mosque.

The St. Louis County Police West County Precinct and the Islamic Foundation are working to together to offer the first ever Citizen Police Academy at the Daar-ul-Islam Mosque located at Weidman and Manchester roads. This is the first time the course has been offered by St. Louis County Police at a mosque and the first time the mosque has had such a course available to members. (Sign up here for the FREE Patch Newsletter, including Breaking News Alerts.) Adil Imdad is the outreach and community relations program coordinator for the Islamic Foundation of Greater St. Louis. He is also the chairman of social services for the foundation. "I'm going to encourage everybody to attend. This is something that is for extra knowledge," Imdad tells …

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9/11 - Ten Years Later

10 Years After 9/11, Local Muslims Reach Out to Community

Members of the Daar-ul Islam Mosque in Manchester say 9/11 forced them to be better Muslims.

Before Sept. 11, 2001, Maysa Albarcha, a Ballwin resident, always thought of herself as no different from any other American. “I always thought I was just like everybody else,” Albarcha said. “I went to McDonalds, shopped, had nice cars. I was living the American dream.” Albarcha, a St. Louis-native Muslim, said 9/11 changed her life and made her more aware of her religion. Other Muslims from Manchester's Daar-Ul Islam Mosque share Albarcha's feelings. “We had to work very hard so people would hear our side of the story,” said Dr. Ghazala Hayat, a spokesperson for the mosque. “We had to become better Muslims so people knew what Islam really was all about.” Albarcha said she remembers hearing about the New York attacks on the radio on her …

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