#35 MUSTAFA YILMAZ
States; it is run by Mustafa Yılmaz and his 29 board members. UAMA started to open dorms in 2006, provides Islamic education to the students and has almost 300 students nationwide. “When compared with last year, we have increased the student numbers 40 percent. We are not only giving them Islamic courses but also helping them with their school classes. They go to American public schools and we support their homework to make them successful in their lessons, such as math, physics, chemistry, etc,” Yılmaz says. The organization recently opened two more dorms in Staten Island, NY and southern New Jersey. Yılmaz indicates that Turkish-American people usually demand the opening of dorms in their towns. UAMA has two mosques in Canada as well, Pacific Sultan Mosque in Richmond, British Columbia and Fatih Mosque in Toronto. UAMA’s officials teach Islamic lessons and UAMA hires an educator to help students with their daily school lessons. UAMA even has an education commission that follows students’ school success. “Families are very happy about their children school’s performance,” he adds.
Mustafa Yılmaz, President of United American Muslim Association of New York (UAMA).
The Spırıtual Movement of Volunteers W The organization is the largest religious organization established by the Sunni Muslims in the United States; it is run by Mustafa Yılmaz and his 29 board members
hen a group of Turkish-American people decided to establish a mosque in Brooklyn, NY at the end of the 1970s, they did not know how far they could grow their organization. They founded the United American Muslim Association of New York (UAMA), a not-for-profit organization serving general interests, on May 23, 1980. In the same year, they opened Fatih Mosque, located on 8th Avenue, between 60th and 61st Street in Brooklyn, which was founded even before the Religious Affairs Directorate of the Turkish Government opened a mosque in the States. Their goal was to satisfy the religious and spiritual needs of the Muslim population in the United States and to teach Islam and to spread and keep alive the Islamic Culture. Today, they have established 22 mosques and 11 dorms in the United States and Canada. The organization is the largest religious organization established by the Sunni Muslims in the United
UAMA has about 70 people who run mosques and dorms in 12 states in the United States, 6 locations in Canada. Orhan Kurtuluş and İsmet Hamzaçebi have served on the board of UAMA since 1980. Yılmaz, 43, who worked in Munich, Germany and Vienna, Austria before coming to the States, has served for one year and in the upcoming UAMA’s board election, he is seeking a second term. UAMA’S MOSQUES * Brooklyn Fatih Mosque (Brooklyn, NY 11220) * Süleymaniye Mosque – (Dix Hills, NY 11746) * Osmaniye Mosque – (Moriches, NY 11955) * Clifton Yeni Dünya Mosque – (Clifton, NJ 07011) * New Castle Aziziye Mosque – (Bear, DE 19701) * Bristol Mevlana Mosque – (Bristol, PA 19007) * Boston Selimiye Mosque – (Methuen, MA 01844) * Connecticut Mevlana Mosque – (West Haven, CT) * Chicago Muradiye Mosque – (Lynwood, IL 60411) * Yeni Mosque – (Los Angeles, CA 90034) * Rochester Hamidiye Mosque – (Rochester, NY 14609) * Toronto Fatih Mosque – (Toronto, ONT M4L-3A1) * Vancouver Pacific Eyüp Sultan Mosque – (Richmond, BC V6A-2G3) * Boğaziçi Mosque – (Westminster, CA 92683)
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