Nearly 2 million Muslims will make the greater pilgrimage to Mecca, or Hajj, next week.

Imam Steve Mustapha Elturk is President of the Islamic Organization of North America (IONA). He says this year, Hajj is different due to the ongoing war between Iran, the United States and Israel. 

“Many of our congregations are asking, ‘is it safe to go this year?’ It is very safe,” he says.

Elturk says the U.S. bases are far away from the holy cites in Mecca and Medina. 

“Saudi Arabia really does a great job in terms of safety and security. I’ve been going there for a dozen years, and I see it with my own eyes to make sure that the pilgrims are safe and secure,” he shares.

He says the systems have also changed from people booking Hajj travel through an agency to using the Nusuk app, which can be confusing for users.

“Then they offer you the packages. They ask me if I’m going or taking a group. I have not taken a group in the last few years since they launched the Nusuk… ” It’s different,” he reflects.

He says about a half dozen people are going to Hajj from his congregation this year, but he expects that more people are going from nearby suburbs of Detroit.

Elturk says, although he’s not going to Hajj this year, he provides spiritual guidance for his congregants if asked.

“I have had throughout the years, since some from our community who have gone there call me on the phone, say ‘we just finished this. I don’t know what should I do next, or I did this, is this correct?’ And I try to guide them over the phone sometimes at 3 o’clock in the morning because of the time differences,” he explains.

Hajj takes place during the eighth through 13th of the Islamic month of Dhul Hijjah, following a lunar calendar. Pilgrims do specific tasks while they are in Hajj, what Elturk describes as an opportunity for repentance.

“Hajj is all about repentance, and the Prophet said, peace be upon him, ‘whoever performs Hajj, his or her pilgrimage is accepted, returns as the day he or she was born—in other words, sinless,'” he shares.

Pilgrims will perform Hajj from May 25-30.

About 2 million Muslims will perform Hajj, the greater pilgrimage in Saudia Arabia this month. But the U.S. Embassy of Saudia Arabia is asking pilgrims to reconsider their trip due to the ongoing war between Iran and the U.S.

Juber Ahmed, a pharmacist, and his mom Shamima Akther live in Sterling Heights, Michigan.

In January, Ahmed found out he and his mom’s applications to perform Hajj were accepted after months of waiting. He dropped to his knees and performed a prayer of gratitude.

“Honestly, that feeling I still can’t find the words to express. I was in tears, did sajdah as-sukr, and then I hugged my mom, and both of us just were in tears,” he expresses.

Akter is 63 years old. She’s looking forward to going this year while she’s still physically able to make the rigorous journey.

“Alhamdulillah, I’ve been waiting for a long time to go to Hajj with my oldest son. It’s Allah’s will,” she exclaims. 

It’s a dream she’s had for more than 30 years, since her kids were little.

Ahmed and Akther are among a few thousand pilgrims from the United States who will perform Hajj in Saudi Arabia.

Wahid Elfeky is a part of the Aleman Groups USA travel agency in New York, which has been around for 30 years. He says that until 2019, as many as 16,000 people from the United States would make the Hajj each year.

But Saudi Arabia has instituted quotas to prevent overcrowding. He says now the number is closer to 5,000 people. 

Embassy warns travelers, but pilgrimage continues

In April, the U.S. Embassy of Saudi Arabia issued an alert, asking American pilgrims to reconsider going to Hajj due to the ongoing war between Iran and the U.S.

Ahmed sat his mom down and asked her if she wanted to postpone the trip. Akther says she feels a strong conviction to go this year. 

“I told my son, ‘I will go alone. Don’t go, you have two kids.’ My son said, ‘what are you saying, I am going to take you,'” she shares. 

Ahmed says he is still going.

“I know it’s a risk, but I also know that this chance may not come back around,” he says.

Performing the pilgrimage at least once is mandatory for all able-bodied Muslims who can afford the costs of travel.

Imam Steve Mustapha Elturk is the co-chair of the Imams Council of Michigan. He says several people have asked him whether they should still go. He assures them it’s safe and encourages them to go, noting the U.S. military installations in Saudi Arabia are far from the holy sites.

“Definitely there’s nothing going on there in terms of war or missiles or anything of that sort,” he shares.

Faith over fear

In Washington D.C., Sana Imam is preparing to make the hajj later this month. The health policy and communications professional is going with her husband.

“I’m still planning to go because the level of spiritual transformation that is possible to experience at Hajj might not be possible anywhere else for a lot of Muslims,” she explains.

For most Muslims, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Imam says she’s focusing her attention on preparing for the trip.

“I’ve been doing like, 30 minutes on the Stairmaster machine every time I go to the gym, just because Hajj involves miles on foot every day. Spiritually, I’ve been trying to slow down my prayers instead of rushing through them,” she says.

Although she’s concerned about the ongoing war, Imam says she’s leaning on her faith to get through this time of uncertainty.

Hajj is performed between the eighth and the 13th of the Islamic month Dhu al-Hijjah—that’s May 25- May 30. For many American Muslims, the opportunity to go to Hajj outweighs their fear of not going to perform one of the greatest acts of worship in Islam.

While the city of Highland Park may be known as the birthplace of the automotive assembly line, it’s also home to one of the first mosques built from the ground up in the U.S.

Imams Hussein Karoub and Khalil Bazzi led the construction of Highland Park’s Moslem Mosque. They selected a location near the Ford assembly line plant in Highland Park and opened the mosque in 1921.

The mechanical contractor John E Green Company now owns the building.

Sally Howell is a professor of history at the University of Michigan – Dearborn. She says Syrian immigrants, “mostly from what is today, Lebanon,” built the mosque.

She says immigrants were attracted to the Ford plant’s wages of $5 per day, which was around twice the average industrial wage at the time. 

She says Arab Americans had organizations and political associations leading up to mosque opening. Howell says people from the Middle East, South Asia, and Eastern Europe worshipped there. It only stayed open for about a year.

“Part of the congregation, by 1921 had already started moving to Dearborn, because Henry Ford was already building and starting to open the Ford Rouge assembly,” she says.

However, Highland Park had a growing African American Muslim population.

Imam Hamidullah Daniel Mujahid was born in Highland Park in 1953.

He says many Muslims practiced their faith in private during the 1950s and 1960s. About 50 Muslim families—people from the Middle Eastern, followers of the Ahmadiyya movement from South Asia, and people from the Nation of Islam—lived in the city.

“At this given point in time, the only outward practicing group was the group that was called the Nation of Islam, that was the Black African American community,” he says.

Mujahid says people wanted to fit in with the majority of the Christian population. They also didn’t want to get targeted.

Researcher Akil Fahd says another predominantly African American mosque, Masjid As-Salaam, opened around 1971. It was an incubator for other mosques.

“A lot of the other communities that were Sunni Muslim, that did not come out of the Nation of Islam, they kind of spread out from Masjid As-Salam,” he shares.

A lasting community

Masjidun-Nur opened in 1977 on Pilgrim Street. It has an extension building, the Markaz Al-Tabligh, on Hamilton Avenue for larger gatherings and special occasions such as Eid prayers.

Fahd says it’s part of the Tablighi community, a global Islamic missionary movement focused on spiritual renewal, prayer and following the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

Fatimah Rashad is a labor and delivery nurse and mom of four. Her parents moved from New Jersey to Highland Park in 1991.

“My father actually wanted to move here because it’s a bigger Muslim community, and they heard about the Islamic schools,” she says.

Rashad says the community was warm and welcoming. About 20 families lived there.

Khalil MuMinun is an assistant imam at Masjid Wali Muhammad. He says the Muslim community in Highland Park offered an alternative lifestyle.

“They played a significant role in you know keeping the drug epidemic from taking over the entire neighborhood by creating a space where the standard was virtue and having good manners with your neighbors,” he explains.

While today just a few Muslim families remain in Highland Park, Muslim communities played a vital role in developing the city since the early 1900s.  

The U.S. Justice Department wants Wayne County to hand over ballots from the 2024 election. Justice officials claim the county surrounding Detroit has a “history of fraud convictions and other allegations.” 

Michigan officials say the few examples of fraud cited by the Justice Department out of millions of votes cast were not connected to the 2024 election. Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson—who is running for governor as a Democrat—says she believes President Trump is trying to manufacture fear among voters. 

Michigan’s Republican-controlled state senate also found no evidence of widespread or systemic fraud in the 2020 election.

-Reporting by Quinn Klinefelter

Additional headlines for Tuesday, April 21, 2026

Detroit representatives co-sponsor water access, affordability bills

Detroit-area representatives are among those co-sponsoring water access and affordability bills in the U.S. House. If passed, he bills would create an Environmental Protection Agency program that provides access to clean water for low-income households. 

Congresswoman Debbie Dingell is one of the sponsors of the legislation. She says clean, accessible, affordable drinking water is a basic human right. The bills would also prohibit water shutoffs and give equal protection for renters and homeowners. 

These bills are similar to ones Dingell and Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib got passed in 2021, though funding was allowed to run out in the Republican-controlled House. 

-Reporting by Russ McNamara

Dearborn invests in new developments

Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud says the city and its private sector partners are investing $180 million in a wide variety of developments, including new housing. Hammoud says the city has already reviewed and approved some concept plans and is speeding up the permitting process.

Volunteers needed for Cinco De Mayo Fiesta

Raíces Detroit is looking for volunteers for its Cinco de Mayo Fiesta and Parade. Volunteers will serve in a variety of roles, including event set-up and breakdown, assistance with parade staging, vendor support and more.

The Fiesta will be Saturday, May 2 and Sunday, May 3. The parade will be held on Sunday.

To volunteer, contact Raíces Detroit at 313-404-0850. 

Interfaith Odysseys explores Islam

The Interfaith Leadership Council of Metropolitan Detroit invites the community to explore Islam as a part of its Interfaith Odysseys program in May. Attendees will visit the Islamic Center of America – the largest mosque in the United States. The event includes a tour of the mosque, an introduction to Islam and a warm meal.

Guests will also view the “Art, Faith and Sacred Space” exhibit of work by Lebanese-born artist Haroutioun Isack Bastajian. Interfaith Odysseys are designed for all members of the family.

Joyce Foundation seeks to fund artists

The Joyce Foundation is offering artists across the Great Lakes a chance at a hundred thousand dollars in unrestricted funds for community-focused projects.

Artists in Michigan can nominate themselves through May 4. The Joyce Awards artists in the visual, performing, film, literary and media arts exploring issues of racial equity and engaging communities through collaboration. 

For more information and to apply, visit www.joycefdn.org/grants.  

Listen to the latest episode of the “Detroit Evening Report” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

We’re in a moment of polarization. We’re struggling to see each other, to hear one another and to understand different perspectives. 

A 2024 Gallup poll found that 80 percent of adults believe we are greatly divided in our most important values. A more recent New York Times poll found that most voters don’t believe these divisions can be overcome. 

There are fewer and fewer people who have faith in one another. Many believe that our democracy will crumble because we are simply incapable of solving problems across the aisle. 

The folks working in interfaith dialogue think differently. 

Sam Corey spoke with a few of them to understand the promise and limitations of that work.