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.

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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Questions After Muslim-Focused Police Academy Begins in West County

Patch addresses reader questions about the St. Louis County Police Department's Citizens' Police Academy targeting and educating area Muslims.

Patch editors received a variety of questions, stemming from the first-ever, Muslim-focused Citizens' Police Academy that began last Wednesday at the Daar-ul-Islam Mosque in West County at Manchester and Weidman roads. St. Louis County Police worked in partnership with Islamic Foundation members to coordinate the eight classes being held Nov. 14 through Jan. 16. (Read Related Article: First Citizens' Police Academy for All St. Louis Muslims Starts Wednesday) A focus on the safety of a particular sector of residents raised questions from other St. Louis County residents; Patch secured answers from St. Louis County Police Chief Tim Fitch and media officer Randy Vaughn. Fitch said Citizens' Police Academies were started in 1992/1993 by the St…

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First Citizens' Police Academy for All St. Louis Muslims Starts Wednesday

St. Louis County Police are partnering with the Islamic Foundation to host classes in West County to specifically address safety on behalf of St. Louis Muslims.

Organziers said 39 participants are registered for the first time Citizens' Police Academy to be hosted by St. Louis County Police West County Precinct officers, in partnership with Islamic Foundation members, at the Manchester-based Daar-ul-Islam Mosque, 517 Weidman Rd. (For instant news updates follow Patch on Facebook and Twitter.) The eight classes, available to all mosque members and St. Louis area Muslims, will be held from 6-8 p.m., beginning Wednesday. Participants will graduate Jan. 16. St. Louis County Chief of Police Timothy Fitch stated in a Tuesday media release he believed the Citizens Police Academy creates the perfect opportunity for West St. Louis County residents to get acquainted with the officers who serve and protect …

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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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Plans For Muslim Funeral Home in West County

The Imam of Daar-Ul Islam, a West County mosque, says area-Muslims need a proper place to put their loved ones to rest.

Two years ago, Adil Imdad's cousin died of cancer. Imdad, a Ballwin resident and member of the Daar-Ul Islam Mosque at the corner at Weidman and Manchester roads, said he could not believe there was not a single Muslim funeral service in the area for his cousin. “I felt so bad I thought we had to do something from our mosque to serve Muslims all around St. Louis,” Imdad said. Earlier this month, Imdad and other members of the mosque hosted a fundraiser to raise money for a Muslim funeral home in an empty lot behind the West County mosque. Imdad said he does not know when construction will begin, but he is determined to raise the funds to make it happen. “My religion teaches me to serve other people for God,” Imdad said. “I will not stop …

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Fundraiser For Muslim Funeral Home Friday at West County Mosque

A fundraiser to build a "first of its kind" Muslim funeral home will be held Friday evening at the Daar-ul-Islam mosque in West County, the Post-Dispatch reports.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the event in West County will raise money for what will be Missouri's first Muslim funeral home. The need for a muslim funeral home became apparent to the idea's originator, Adil Imdad, when his cousin died and the family dealt with the "absence of Muslim ritual following her death," according to the Post's report. Currently, Muslims in Missouri are buried in sections of Christian cemeteries and they are typically guided through the burial process by non-Muslims, the Post reported. (Be sure to "Like" Patch on Facebook - check out our page here.) The report also states that there are many differences in the Muslim burial process and what is normally followed by a typical funeral home, some of which …

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Hayat: Hijabs Pose No Security Threat

Ghazala Hayat writes in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that head scarves play a sacred role for Muslims, who should not be subjected to unneeded security procedures.

Following an incident where a Muslim woman from West County was forced to remove her head scarf at the St. Louis County jail, columnist and chair of the Islamic Foundation Public Relations Committee Ghazala Hayat writes that law enforcement need a finer understanding of Muslim culture. The Ballwin woman was reportedly jailed after being arrested by St. Louis County Police in January near the mosque at Weidman and Manchester roads because of a warrant related to an unregistered vehicle. Once at the jail, the woman reportedly was forced to remove her head scarf, also called a hijab, which prompted backlash from the St. Louis chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. County representatives later met with the council, and both …

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Jail Procedure Changed After West County Woman's Rights Violated, Group Says

The St. Louis County jail has changed its jailing procedure after a Muslim woman from Ballwin recently was required to remove her hijab or head scarf before being jailed.

St. Louis County representatives said this week that they will be changing part of their security procedures after a Muslim woman from Ballwin recently was required to remove her hijab or head scarf while being jailed, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. The woman, Basra Noor, 23, was arrested by St. Louis County Police in January near the West. St. Louis County Mosque of Weidman Road because of a warrant related to an unregistered vehicle. Following her arrest, Noor was taken to the St. Louis County Justice Center in Clayton, where she was asked to remove the scarf. Following the incident, the St. Louis chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations has since asked that the St. Louis County Jail adopt a policy granting religious …

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Anger After Muslim Woman's Head Scarf Removed at Jail, Post Reports

The removal of a Muslim woman’s head scarf at the St. Louis County jail, after she was arrested for an unpaid traffic ticket near the Mosque on Weidman Road, has her family demanding an apology, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.