The mosque in Morgantown

Streaming video - 2016

When Muslim writer and activisit Asra Nomani returns to her hometown mosque in West Virginia, she believes she sees signs of trouble: exclusion of women, intolerance toward nonbelievers, suspicion of the West. Her resulting campaign for change alienates would-be allies in the mosque, leading many to wonder who most deserves the label of “extremist.” It isn’t long before members put forward a petition to expel her from the Islamic Center of Morgantown. As Asra takes an increasingly different path from the community’s moderates – marching on the mosque, posting a manifesto on its door, storming out of a community meeting and challenging a visiting sheik about domestic violence – the film provides a rare look at the real controvers...ies that divide a Muslim community. The Mosque in Morgantown is sometimes raucous and not always politically correct, but it reveals a truth that will surprise many Americans: the view inside this mosque is actually quite familiar. Words like extremism and terrorism are thrown about, but in the end they are beside the point. The arguments over gender, tradition and tactics in the Morgantown mosque also play out in communities across the nation – from churches and synagogues to secular volunteer organizations. And the question of how to effect change is just as difficult. more