The first mosque built from the ground up in the United States was erected in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, almost a century ago by immigrants from present-day Lebanon. Today, their descendants and newcomers from Afghanistan, East Africa and beyond are continuing to redefine what it means to be both Muslim and American in the heartland. The Muslim community that founded the “Mother Mosque” keeps growing. Its prayer and cultural centers are key spaces as they seek to maintain and transmit their faith and heritage, while also embracing in varying degrees the diversity of U.S. culture.

In Cedar Rapids, Grant Wood painted “American Gothic,” the iconic portrait of a man and a woman standing in front of a white frame house. Almost 100 years later, the residents of this Iowa river town strike many different profiles after more than a century of migration and faith-based resettlement efforts. On an August weekend, a grocery store owner attends Friday prayer alongside the descendants of Middle Eastern families who built the US first mosque here. Refugee families from Central and West Africa go to Methodist services and volunteer at a Catholic church’s sweet corn festival. And two churches belonging to the same Catholic parish celebrate Masses attended by the descendants of Czech migrants from the 19th century and new arrivals from Latin America.

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Fatima Igram Smejkal, whose family immigrated to the United States from Lebanon in the early 1900s, greets fellow faithful before Friday prayer at the Islamic Center of Cedar Rapids on Friday, Aug. 8, 2025, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

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Community members talk after Friday prayer at the Islamic Center of Cedar Rapids on Friday, Aug. 8, 2025, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

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Imam Taha Tawil of "The Mother Mosque of America" discusses the building's long history in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Friday, Aug. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

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Muslims attend Friday prayer at the Islamic Center of Cedar Rapids on Friday, Aug. 8, 2025, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

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Families attend Friday prayer at the Islamic Center of Cedar Rapids on Friday, Aug. 8, 2025, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

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A young girl watches as men and women pray at the Islamic Center of Cedar Rapids on Friday, Aug. 8, 2025, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)