Washington State Islamic Center Celebrates 25th Anniversary

Islamic Center celebrates 25th anniversary

The celebration included guest speakers, a banquet and discussions about faith.

Megan Vigus

The Daily Evergreen

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Visitors from across the country came to Pullman this weekend to help celebrate the Pullman Islamic Center’s 25 years of success in the community.

The Pullman Islamic Center was built in 1982 and is named after Umar al-Khattab, the second caliph of Islam following the Prophet Muhammad’s death.

A Muslim Woman To begin the commemorative weekend, Edina Lekovic presented a speech on Friday in CUE 419. Lekovic is the communications director for the Muslim Public Affairs Council and has been featured on CNN, BBC, MSNBC and the History Channel. Her position allows her to act as a national spokeswoman for the American Muslim community.

In her speech “Muslim Women: The Challenge of Islamic Identity Today,” Lekovic delved briefly into her own life, providing information on how she began her devotion to Islam. “While I was born Muslim” Lekovic said, “I chose to be Muslim when I was about 19.” People often assume she has converted to Islam because she does not have an accent and is white. She said she is not the exception of her community – she is the product of her community. For years, she refused to talk about Muslim women because she didn’t want to add to the stereotype that when a Muslim woman speaks, all she can speak about is Muslim women, but she recently changed her mind.

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