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| Al-Taqwa Mosque, Seaside, California |
On a quiet sidestreet in the city of Seaside, California sits a unobtrusive building with a sign in Arabic and English identifying it as the Masjid al-Taqwa (al-Taqwa Mosque) of the Islamic Society of Monterey County.* You may ask yourself, "Why is there a mosque on the Monterey Peninsula?"
The answer to that question involves one of the peninsula's major employers and landholders - the U.S. Army Presidio of Monterey, home of the Defense Language Institute (DLI). DLI is one of the largest and most respected language schools in the country. It trains thousands of members of the U.S. armed forces in dozens of languages used in intelligence, security assistance, diplomatic and exchange positions worldwide.
DLI has been at the Presidio since 1963 - it's predeccesor, the Army Language School began its instruction there in 1947. In 1963, the Department of Defense consolidated all military foreign language training as DLI.
The requirements for native speakers of dozens of foreign languages to become faculty members drew people from around the world, people of different ethinc and cultural backgrounds, including different religions. It should come as no surprise that many of the new faculty were Muslims - Islam is the second largest religion in the world, closely following Christianity.
I was a student at DLI several times: first at Biggs Field, Texas, for Vietnamese-Hanoi during the war in Southeast Asia, then at the Presidio for basic and intermediate Arabic, and later as an Arabic instructor. During those years, I saw changes in the demographic makeup of the Arabic language deparment's faculty.
In my first encounter as a student in 1973-74, most of the instructors were from Iraq and Egypt, with a smattering of Lebanese and Jordanians, and smaller numbers of Palestinians and Syrians, but very few Gulf Arabs.** An inordinate number of these intructors were Christians, much more than the demographics of the Middle East would indicate.
On my second tour as a student a few years later and during my tenure as a faculty member, I did notice a change in the makeup of the faculty. I have been back to speak to the Arabic students over the years, and I think my assessment is still accurate. What I see now is a much broader representation of the Arabic-speaking countries and a decided shift in the religions of the faculty. It appears to be mostly Muslims now.
Unfortunately, this developed into an issue during operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm - the U.S. defense of Saudi Arabia and the liberations of Kuwait, respectively. After the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1991, some - albeit a small minority - took umbrage at the "rallying around the flag" not just in the country, but on the Presidio as well.
When asked about it, I had little sympathy for the position of the instructors who claimed to be offended. My comment: "This is a U.S. military facility, training American warriors to execute U.S. foreign policy. If that means military action against your country of origin, so be it. If it offends you, find another place to work." Again, I stress that this was a small minority.
There were similar reactions after the al-Qa'idah attacks of September 11, 2001. That tragedy was of such magnitude that even if people were offended by the U.S. response, they knew better than to raise it. I am curious, but do not know, the reaction to the Hamas attacks on Israelis on October 7, 2023.
So, what does this have to do with the Islamic Society of the Monterey Peninsula and its al-Taqwa (pronounced ah-TAQ-wa - the L is silent here***) Mosque? It means "the mosque of piety."
No great mystery. As native speakers took positions as instructors of the many languages being taught at DLI, faculty members came from many Muslim countries, not just Arabic-speaking countries, but countries such as Indonesia (the largest Muslim population in the world), Pakistan, India, Iran, Turkey, Albania, Afghanistan, etc.
At that time, there were no existing Muslim houses of worship in the area. A group of Muslim faculty members began meeting in their homes, finally forming the organization now known as the Islamic Society of Monterey County. To the point that it's not always about Arabic-speaking people, one of the founders of the society was an Indonesian, brought in to start the Indonesian and Malay department at the language school. The society began in 1965 and became a nonprofit religious corporation in 1969.
Following the attacks of 9/11, I also noticed an increase in what I would call the "Islamic leanings" of some of the faculty, many of whom I considered close friends - I still do, but the relationship has certainly changed. It is no longer possible to discuss Middle East events with some of them who become almost enraged when speaking about U.S. foreign policy. It's better left alone. I am often tempted to repeat the comments I made after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait (see above).
So, in a way, the creation of the Defense Language Insititute at the Presidio of Monterey logically resulted in the creation of the Islamic Society of the Monterey County. It remains a key source of membership in the congregation.
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* There is another mosque in Monterey County - the Salinas Masjid of the Islamic Community of Salinas. The two groups are not affiliated, but often conduct programs, events, and celebrations with each other.
* There is another mosque in Monterey County - the Salinas Masjid of the Islamic Community of Salinas. The two groups are not affiliated, but often conduct programs, events, and celebrations with each other.
** I am speaking anectdotally here, based on my observations.
*** In Arabic, half of the letters are "solar" and half are "lunar" - solar letters drop the L in the definite article "al-" and double the next (solar) letter.
