Virginia: Muslim Cemetery Might Be Largest In America

Virginia: Muslim Cemetery Might Be Largest In America

Posted on February 5, 2014 by creeping

via VA Muslim Cemetery Might Be Largest In America.

Sacred ground lies in Fredericksburg, an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia located 49 miles south of Washington, D.C. A battle was fought here over emancipation of slaves, and now slaves of Allah emancipated from the trials of the dunya rest in what maybe the largest Muslim cemetery in the United States. Established in 1986, the first grave was dug in 1996 at the All Muslim Association of America (AMAA) Cemetery.

“[A] brother died and we had a hard time finding a place – thats how we started,” remarks Sikander Javed, the treasurer and member of the board of directors for AMAA. In the late eighties, Mohammad Younis, Zar Khan, and some other members of the community met at the home of Javed. “We didn’t have a particular area in mind; looking for an inexpensive option we picked Stafford County, but did not limit ourselves.”

For the past 30 years the home of this former financial guru for the city government of Alexandria has been the office of the AMAA. After retirement, Sikander Javed and friends have dedicated the rest of their days to the cemetery project.

Located in Northern Virginia, the cemetery serves the DC Metro and the rest of the US; people from as far away as MIchigan come here to be buried.

The original site was 7.5 acres, but when an adjacent 77 acre plot went into foreclosure, the association took a loan and brought the property. “We paid that land off early part of this year,” said Javed. “The balance of $10,000 was paid off by a Dr. Hussain who recently buried a relative.” Currently AMAA receives about 12 burial requests per month.