25,000 Muslims Descend on Detroit for ISNA's Labor Day Bridge-Building Convention

Huntington Place in downtown Detroit is bracing for a crowd of up to 25,000 people over Labor Day weekend as the Islamic Society of North America holds its 63rd annual convention, one of the largest annual gatherings of Muslims in North America. Organizers say the three-day event, running September 4 through September 7, will bring together Muslim speakers from across Metro Detroit alongside national figures for panels on faith, health and social justice.

Convention organizer Azhar Azeez said attendance is expected to reach between 22,000 and 25,000 people during the three days, according to the Detroit Free Press. Other estimates cited in the same report put attendance at more than 20,000. The gathering, held this year under the theme “Persevere, Interconnect, Be God Conscious, Strengthen Each Other for True Prosperity,” is ISNA's 63rd annual convention, though the organization more often holds the event in Chicago.

A Return to a City With Deep Ties

Detroit isn't a new stop for ISNA. When the organization last brought its national convention to the same downtown venue in 2014 — then known as Cobo Center — the lineup included keynote addresses from former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, then-Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and then-U.S. Representative Keith Ellison, according to CBS Detroit. Carter used that 2014 appearance to call for an end to abuse of women and for peace, freedom and justice for Palestinians, per the Free Press. This year's convention returns to the same riverfront complex, since rebranded as Huntington Place, a 2.4-million-square-foot facility offering 723,000 square feet of exhibit space and the 40,000-square-foot Grand Riverview Ballroom, according to Huntington Place.

ISNA has close ties to Michigan, and almost 200 Michigan volunteers are helping organize this year's convention, the Free Press reports. Dr. Muzammil Ahmed, who also sits on the board of the Michigan Muslim Community Council, chairs the convention's steering committee. The event will feature local imams including Hassan Al-Qazwini, a leader of the Islamic Institute of America in Dearborn Heights — the subject of Hoodline's report on its golden-domed expansion — and Mustapha Elturk, a leader of the Islamic Organization of North America in Warren.

Panels, Politics and a Packed Bazaar

Programming includes a panel titled “Cultivating God Awareness in a Turmoiled America,” which will include Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud and U.S. Senate Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed, per the Free Press. Panelists are expected to discuss taqwa — a term meaning god awareness — and its relationship to societal challenges. El-Sayed's participation comes amid separate scrutiny of his family's history, which Hoodline detailed in its report on how his mother's charity work and his father-in-law's former leadership roles within ISNA have drawn attention during his Senate campaign.

Beyond the panels, the convention footprint includes a 220,000-square-foot international bazaar with roughly 500 booths selling books, educational materials, clothes and cultural items, according to the Free Press. The event also includes youth robotics and science competitions, sports activities, matrimonial networking sessions and a film festival, per the Islamic Society of North America. The convention will honor Robert Brutell for fostering dialogue among diverse faiths and advocating for minority religions in Michigan.

Security and an Open-Door Policy

ISNA is working with Detroit police and private security to ensure a peaceful event, the Free Press reports. Azeez told the paper that ISNA did not invite Tariq Masood to speak at the convention and that he will not be appearing, addressing a point of public interest directly. Azeez emphasized that the convention remains open to the public, saying everybody is welcome, and that it includes Shia Muslims among its attendees.

An Organization Rooted in the 1960s, Scrutinized in the 2000s

ISNA traces its roots to a Muslim student group formed in Illinois in 1963, which grew out of the Muslim Students Association founded by international college students at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, according to the Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. ISNA was formally established in the early 1980s and today is headquartered in Indiana, on a 42-acre compound in Plainfield where its administrative offices and mosque complex opened in January 1983, designed by architect Gulzar Haider. The organization also has roots connected to the Indian subcontinent, the Free Press notes.

That history includes a period of federal scrutiny. In the 2007-2008 federal terrorism financing trial involving the Holy Land Foundation, prosecutors listed ISNA among more than 200 unindicted co-conspirators — a designation a federal district judge ruled in 2009 had violated the group's due process rights, according to the Charity & Security Network. No formal criminal charges were ever brought against ISNA in that case. That designation resurfaced this month during a U.S. Senate hearing led by Sen. Ted Cruz on Islamic organizations, which Hoodline covered in its report on how Cruz sat alone at the hearing.

Why Detroit Fits the Bill

The choice of Metro Detroit as host reflects the region's outsized Muslim and Arab American population. U.S. Census Bureau data released in September 2023 showed that people of Middle Eastern or North African ancestry make up 54.5% of Dearborn's population, confirming it as the first Arab-majority city in the United States, according to ClickOnDetroit. Nearby Hamtramck, also in Wayne County, became recognized as the first Muslim-majority city in the country, driven by growing Yemeni, Bangladeshi and Bosnian populations, per Reason Magazine. That dense regional infrastructure of mosques and civic institutions gives ISNA a built-in base of volunteers and attendees whenever it returns to the city.