Finding community in a new place can be hard for anyone, anywhere. It can be especially tough when that new place is remote, isolated and features a revolving cast of seasonal workers. But there’s a place in Unalaska for Muslims new to town to gather and pray once a week.
Every Friday afternoon at about 2:30 p.m., in the UniSea central building conference room, Muslims of Unalaska/Dutch Harbor hosts Jumu’ah prayer.
One of the members of this group, Mostafa Hassan, gives the khutbah, or sermon, each meeting.
“One of the most important things that Islam encourages is the spirit of unity and not being selfish,” Hassan said. “You will find that some of the practices, prayers and rituals in the religion itself cannot be performed unless you are within a group.”
Group prayer is an integral part of regular worship in Islam. In fact, whenever a Muslim moves to a new place, the first thing they have to do is find who they will pray with, Hassan said.
Hassan is originally from Cairo but lived in east Texas before moving to town with his partner, who works as a mental health counselor with a regional provider. Before coming to Unalaska, he reached out to a few locals to see if there was an active Muslim prayer group on the island. He found that the only prayer group people knew about was inactive. But, after a few conversations, he worked with his contacts to restart Jumu’ah prayer.
Those who come to pray are from all over the world.
“During fishing seasons A or B, we get workers that come to pray, of different tongues and different nationalities,” Hassan said. “It is a very enriching experience when you come into contact with people from all over the place.”
He often writes sermons with everyday troubles and the issues facing Muslims around the world in mind.
“We try to bring up the problems and the issues we’re having in our daily lives, but try to get guidance and reflect on the message, revelation and values of Islam,” Hassan said.
During a sermon in December, Hassan used the history of Unalaska as an illustrative point.
“The example from the near past is around us when we walk on this island and see the remnants of World War II,” said Hassan. “We see the bunkers. We hear the stories about the soldiers and the bombings. So this gives us a perspective on the value of this world, real life and how weak and how humble the human being is in himself.”
That desire to dig into bigger topics extends to the conflicts of today, too.
“We had someone that, I think it was from Moldova, who came in the last season. He was explaining to us his experience with the war between Russia and Ukraine, how this has affected him and his family,” Hassan said.
Ultimately, by exploring these ideas in a communal space, Unalaska’s Muslim community gets the chance to find a sense of shared meaning in a new environment.
