Students Gift New Life to Abandoned School Building
By Islamic Horizons Staff
Jul/Aug 26
Before January, Arnett Elementary School in Lubbock, Texas was an abandoned school building closed in 2011. Texas Tech University third-year medical student Mohamad Altabaa, along with a friend, gave the building a new life after they bought it and transformed it into a mosque and community center.
“It was in horrible condition,” Altabaa told Religion News Service, noting the building had been unused since a church sold it in 2024. “I just had a feeling like we need to purchase it and turn it into a community center – to do good in the community.”
After purchasing the building, Altabaa shared the renovation process through a nine-part video series on Instagram featuring volunteers, crews hauling debris, the opening of an underground water main, and the tackling of various odd jobs.
These videos have since gone viral with more than 1 million views and 100,000 likes on one video alone. What followed was a burst of grassroots support that grew far beyond the small city in the Texas Panhandle.
Volunteers from across the state and country came to clean, paint walls, cut grass, and prepare the center. Hundreds more donated to defray renovation costs. Among the volunteers were people like Monisa Yusra, a 22-year-old from Chicago, who flew into Lubbock with eight women from her newly-launched Khidmah Club, a Muslim women’s travel group focused on service trips.
Over two days, they packed 30,000 meals for local shelters through the Islamic Relief Fund. Volunteers also put finishing touches on the center by vacuuming, painting, and hanging artwork mailed in by supporters.
On Feb. 14, the Unity Center opened just in time for Ramadan.
Unlike many mosque projects in the United States that rely on large donors and community elders, the Unity Center was powered by grassroots support mostly from students and young professionals.
Religion News Service reported that an online fundraiser raised close to $100,000 for immediate renovation costs such as fixing water leaks, restoring electricity, and polishing the gym floors. Nonprofit MSA Unity is managing the renovation funds.
The Muslim community in Lubbock pitched in as well by providing hotel accommodation for volunteers. A cleaning company also donated supplies.
“I think people are able to recognize something when it’s rooted in good intentions, and when someone has a vision and they passionately express it,” said Ayah Al-Rahawan, a Texas Tech senior who was one of the first volunteers to come to the project. “People are just drawn to that.”
The former school is in a residential community. To break down barriers between Muslims and their neighbors, volunteers have made a point of going door to door, inviting them for a barbecue and other events.
During Ramadan, the center hosted nightly Taraweeh prayers, an open-invite Iftar dinner, and religious programming. The center also hosted community-focused events like late-night hangouts that featured a soft-serve ice cream machine, a coffee cart, and a soon-to-be-ready soccer field made from the former turf at the Texas Tech football team’s practice field.
The organizers have other plans for the center which sits on 5.8 acres of land. Altabaa is in talks with the South Plains Food Bank to set up a food distribution hub and hopes to open a clinic, school, community garden, and more.
However, as with many Muslim-centered projects, the Unity Center has faced criticism from right-wing Christians. Anti-Muslim campaigner Amy Mek’s Rise Align Ignite Reclaim foundation made videos targeting Altabaa and likened the center to a sinister “Islamic takeover” plot, an oft-repeated Islamophobic trope. Fortunately, local pushback has been confined to Facebook comments thus far.
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