Community Raises $60K To Restore Fire-Ravaged Mosque In Bed-Stuy

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT, BROOKLYN — The neighborhood mosque that went up in flames Saturday morning will be renovated, in part, with money donated by its community.

Brooklynite Imran Khan, 27, has launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise the $10,000 for the renovation of the Brooklyn Broadway Jame Masjid and Islamic Center, which burned in a two-alarm fire Saturday morning, according to the FDNY.

No one was injured in the blaze, which was not determined to be suspicious, but both the mosque and the Sunshine Express Deli beneath it were severely damaged, according to the FDNY.

Although Khan himself does not worship at the Brooklyn Broadway Jame Masjid on the corner of Ralph and Gates avenues, he felt obligated to launch a fundraising campaign because no one else had.

“I didn’t see nobody stepping forward,” said Khan, who works as a manager for Shop Rite. “I wanted to be the one who steps up.”

Khan has raised $8,195 in just three days which he credits to the "big family of support" in the Brooklyn Muslim community. “It’s a tight unit,” he said.

Khan will join his campaign with another on LaunchGood that had raised more than $55,000 by Thursday evening, and has reached out to the city and neighboring churches to help find the mosque a worship space in time for Ramadan, which begins on May 26, he said.

“About two-hundred and fifty people who pray there are losing their place to pray,” said Khan. “Seeing that broke my heart.”

Image via Kathleen Culliton