About Us
Mission statement
A Muslim organization assisting and guiding Muslims of southern Maryland in all affairs
Services
Five daily prayers
Jumuah prayer (only in La Plate Masjid)
Funeral prayer
Food bank
Quran school
Social Services
111 Howard Street used to be a small, fifty-year-old, single-family home sitting on piers. It was a daycare center for the Matin Family, but in 1995, La Plata Masjid was established at the same location. From 1995 through 2018, this was the single masjid serving the needs of Charles County Muslims. The masjid was small and so was the community. This was the only place where we could establish our identity as Muslims, and thus, our community developed an attachment to it. It was our space to establish the five daily prayers and Jumuah. Taraweeh came the following year in 1996. For almost ten years, Mohammed Abdullahi from Falls Church, VA would come at Asr time and stay through Isha to lead the daily prayers, and in Ramadan, Taraweeh too. Ramadan was an especially joyful time of year. Families gathered frequently to clean. We were able to visit the sick, poor, and incarcerated Muslims in Charles County Prerelease Center.
Brother Sheikh Matin is a civil engineer, who prior to his retirement, taught at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD and Dahlgren, VA. His love for the youth and respect for the elders made him an asset for our small community. For Jumuah prayers, we were blessed to have different scholars by voluntary rotation address the community. Some of them were graduates of Medina University, the principal of Al Huda Islamic School, and scholars of the local Islamic centers. This was not any one individual’s masjid—but it was the entire community’s masjid. Whoever came once received a key to come at any time.
On a Sunday evening in early 2002, the area was hit by a tornado. Many homes around were completely demolished, but surprisingly, the masjid was only partly affected. We fixed the damages, added to the existing structure, and the building became more functional than ever before, Alhamdulillah.
Sheikh Matin always believed in having a small masjid to serve the community. He thought this was more practical, more cost effective, and more equipped to avoid conflict while attending to congregants’ needs.
In 2005, a single-family home in Waldorf, MD on Old Washing Avenue was purchased. The Matin Family advanced the down payment. There was lot of concern and debate about the location, cost of conversion to a masjid, and space limitations. We had neither financial resources nor manpower. After ten years of planning, fundraising, and struggling to meet the requirements of establishing a masjid, the three-story Waldorf Masjid became operational in 2018. The community has only grown since then. On some days, there is not enough room to accommodate everyone!
Waldorf Masjid offers multiple services, including the five daily prayers and Taraweeh in the past two Ramadans, as well as a Quran school. At the present time, La Plata Masjid is used for Jumuah Salah, as its location is central for most of the community. At Waldorf, we hold halaqas once a month, inviting scholars from larger Islamic centers in the area. Dinner is either catered, or families bring food for a potluck. The biggest blessing we have here is the community—it is united without conflict or power struggle, Alhamdulillah. Our community is home to multiple talented physicians, attorneys, businessmen, information technology specialists, and those learned in Quranic Sciences, Hadith, and Fiqh. Our hearts are together, all working only to achieve the pleasure of Allah.
May Allah bless those who took the first step in establishing this cherished community and those who follow them with sincerity and commitment only to please Him Subhana wa Ta Allah.