Nueces Mosque Reconstruction Project

Your home away from home

Nueces Mosque was established as the first Mosque in Austin in 1977 by the UT Austin Muslim Students’ Association. It has served thousands of students over the past 45 years and has been a place for them to build long lasting connections with their faith, identity and community. Nueces Mosque is the only fully student-run Mosque in Texas helping students learn to love the Mosque and get involved in everything from upkeep to planning events to fundraising.

The Nueces Mosque Reconstruction Project aims to address the needs of the rapidly growing Muslim community at UT Austin by replacing the current overflowing 100-year-old facility with a newer and larger facility to better accommodate the community’s current and future needs.

What Starts Here Changes the Ummah

Our vision is to be a beacon of Islam, a center of Dawah (preservation and promotion of faith), and a place of authentic study of the religion. We want to present Islam in its truest light to our community of students and young professionals in order to dismantle doubts, build conviction in their faith and allow them to proudly carry Islam in their hearts and minds.

We are calling upon our Alumni and Austin community to join us in building a state-of-the-art, welcoming space where students and young professionals come for Ibadah (worship), Suhba (companionship), and Sakina (peace and tranquility).

Earn Sadaqah Jariyah that will continue to reward you for the generations of Muslims that will be inspired and guided by the new center. The new center will be a welcoming place where tens of thousands of Muslims and non-Muslims will come to understand and inspired by the authentic message and beauty of Islam.
Uthman ibn Affan reported: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said
Whoever builds a mosque for Allah, Allah will build for him a house like it in Paradise.
Source: Sahih al-Bukhari 450, Sahih Muslim 533

Project Milestones

Kickoff & Community Engagement
2016
· Project Kick-Off
· Community Surveys & Feedback Sessions
·  SWOT Analysis
·  Establish Project Vision & Goals
Feasibility Analysis
2017 - 2019
· 15+ Community Programming Engagements·  Initial Site Planning
· Options & Feasibility Analysis
· Program and Conceptual Design Development
· Establish Board of Directors
Financial and Legal Readiness
2020-2022
· Financial ProForma Development
· Granted 501(c)(3) Status
· Financial System
· DRM Platform Readiness
· Secured Seed Funding
· Design & Engineering firms selected
Design & Engineering and Permitting
2023
· Capital Campaign Kickoff
· Schematic Design Kickoff (scheduled for Summer 2023)
· Submission of Site Plan Development to the City of Austin (scheduled for Fall 2023)
· Design Development Kickoff (scheduled to complete by year end 2023)
Pre-Construction Planning
2024
· Construction Document Development (Jan 24)
· Permits
· Bidding
· General Contractor Selection
Construction
2025-2027
· Groundbreaking
· Base Build
· Interior Finish Out
· Close Out
· New Building Opening

Nueces Mosque is located on a 14,400 sq ft plot and currently holds two houses that serve as both the Mosque and Community Center. When construction starts, the existing houses will be demolished to build 2 stories of parking underground, a Masjid and offices on the ground floor (13,194 sf), and the Dawah center, Seminary, classrooms, study areas, and meeting rooms on the second floor (14,160 sf). The top four floors will be housing for Muslim students and will provide steady income to the center, making the project self-sustaining (80 bedrooms, 46,720 sf). Preliminary program and floor plans are available here. Final design details will be shared once the site plan has been submitted later this year to City of Austin.

Funding for the Masjid, Dawah Center, and parking will come from donor contributions while the capital for student housing will be raised through other means.

Nueces Reconstruction Concept

Nueces Mosque Tomorrow

What Starts Here Changes the Ummah

who we are

What's Happening at Nueces

Lectures

Nueces Mosque regularly invites scholars from all around the country to speak on a variety of topics to bring the community closer to their deen. Some speakers that have visited include Sh. Omar Suleiman, Mufti Abdul Wahab Waheed, and Sh. Kamal El Mekki.

Texas Deen Intensive

Texas Deen Intensive is a weekend-long, intimate educational Islamic conference at the University of Texas at Austin, hosted by the Texas Muslim Students’ Association and Nueces Mosque.

Ramadan

Nueces Mosque serves iftaar to over 500 congregants every night during Ramadan. Nightly taraweeh is led by nearly a dozen students. During the last 10 nights, Nueces also conducts Qiyam al-Layl and serves Suhoor.

Inter-Faith Iftar

Nueces hosts a special Iftar every Ramadan open the community and gives people of different faiths a chance to build bridges by breaking bread together.

Open House

Nueces Mosque hosts an open house event every year to educate the local community on basic aspects of Islam and Muslim culture.

Social Events

Hundreds of students congregate everyday at Nueces Mosque to pray, eat, study, and work together building lifelong bonds and a community unlike any other.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Is my donation tax-deductible?

Yes. Nueces Mosque is a registered, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with EIN 83-4294610. To claim a donation as a deduction on your U.S. taxes, please keep your email donation receipt from Nueces Mosque as your official record. For any further questions or designation requests, please contact finance@nuecesmosque.com.

Is my donation zakat-eligible?

Nueces Mosque is a one-of-a-kind community consisting of academics, intellectuals, students, young professionals, and families, uniquely situated in the backdrop of the seat of government and nestled on a leading academic and research campus. The aims and objectives of the Nueces Mosque Reconstruction Project reach far beyond simply building a mosque. Through the establishment of the Nueces Seminary which aims to become the gold-standard of Islamic education for university students and the novel Shaykh Mufti Mohamed-Umer Esmail Da’wah Center, Nueces Mosque stands to be at the center of the preservation of faith, the authentic study of the religion, and the source of spiritual and intellectual growth for the entire community. A lengthier paper illustrates that the issue of zakat-eligibility is a matter of legitimate scholarly difference of opinion. Among those opinions is one which permits organizations that have a da’wah mandate to accept zakat funds.

Nueces Mosque believes that it qualifies as such an organization because of its central role in “establishing conviction in the hearts and minds of young Muslim students and being uniquely positioned to spread Islam in the West.” As a point of policy, Nueces Mosque does not actively solicit zakat funds for this; however, based upon the aforementioned legitimate and valid scholarly conclusions, it will accept funds from donors who feel comfortable discharging their personal zakat towards this noble project and mission. For any further questions or designation requests, please contact finance@nuecesmosque.com.

Anwer Imam
Imam and Director of Religious Affairs
Nueces Mosque