SBIA

History

SBIA: From Whence Did it Appear?

Drawn from an article written by the late Mertze Dahlin for SBIA's 25th anniversary in 2005.

1. Mid 1970s

   The Bay Area community's needs were met by traveling to San Francisco for Eid prayers and Sunday School, or occasionally to the I‑House at Stanford. Sunday classes for children were formed through the untiring efforts of Sr. Habibe Husain, becoming the South Bay Area Islamic School.

   Classes moved between Lakewood Grammar School, a nearby park, the YWCA in Sunnyvale, a local church, and eventually Newark High School — always in search of a stable home.

   In 1975, at the encouragement of Dr. Waheed Siddiqee, an ad hoc committee formed to establish an Islamic community that could serve all Muslim families in the South Bay.

2. 1978

   The West Coast Muslim Student Association organized a meeting of twenty Muslims at the Sunnyvale Community Center. On May 14, 1978, a first general‑body meeting of forty members formally established the South Bay Islamic Association.

   Members came from Pakistan, India, Iran, Asia, Africa, Europe, and across America. It was not a question of which tradition your knowledge came from — being Muslim was enough. A new Board of Directors was elected.

3. 1980

   SBIA is incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non‑profit organization.

   Br. Nooruddin Billawala located our first Islamic Center at 2573 Old Oakland Road — a 13,548 sq. ft. structure directly across the street from today's headquarters at 2345 Harris Way. Fundraising extended to Lodi and to a rice ranch in Chico during the oil embargo, and a local Muslim businessman's pledge gave other donors confidence in the project.

   After lengthy meetings with the City Planning Commission, we were asked to find a more suitable location. Br. Noor soon discovered a site at 325 N. 3rd Street, and community loans and grants made the purchase possible.

4. 1983

   Our first imam, Hafiz Muhammad Anwar, arrived from England with his family. He led prayers and taught in coordination with the Islamic School, restoring the sense of familiar mosque life that many immigrant families remembered from home.

5. Mid 1990s

   SBIA acquired property at 2486 Ruby Ave in the Evergreen area, which served as a satellite mosque for many years. In 2013 the SBIA board divested the facility to the Evergreen Islamic Center, which now operates independently.

6. 2004

   The 3rd Street facility could no longer meet the community's growing needs, and parking limitations compounded the problem. A property on Trade Zone Blvd. was considered but did not come to fruition.

7. 2005

   SBIA celebrated its 25th anniversary at the Santa Clara Convention Center.

8. 2013

   SBIA obtained funds to purchase a 71,000 sq. ft. property at 2345 Harris Way, which became the new headquarters of the organization. The bylaws were amended that year to recognize this property as the primary location.

9. 2014

   The prayer area at 2345 Harris Way was named Masjid al‑Mustafa to recognize the special place the Prophet ﷺ has in our community.

10. 2015

    SBIA launched Suffa — learning@SBIA. The Weekend Islamic Learning Program has since grown into one of the premier programs in the Bay Area.

11. 2016

    SBIA celebrated its 35th anniversary at the Santa Clara Marriott.

12. 2018

    Construction of the new musalla launched in December 2018.

13. 2020

    • For the first time in its history, Jumu'ah prayer and congregational gatherings were suspended in mid‑March due to the SARS‑CoV‑2 pandemic.
    • SBIA began offering virtual programming to the community during the shutdown.
    • SBIA marked the 40th anniversary of filing Articles of Incorporation on March 28.