The mosque is the spiritual base for many of the Valley of the Sun 's 50,000 to 70,000 Muslims . Many of the members of the congregation were originally refugees from Afghanistan Iraq , and elsewhere . In 2011 , the mosque was completing a building with a minaret , one block south of and six times larger than its prior location , which according to its leaders made it the largest Islamic center in the Southwest . During its construction , it was the target of vandalism . The mosque includes an Islamic school . On May 29 , 2015 , an anti-Muslim protest occurred outside the mosque in response to the attempted Curtis Culwell Center attack
Curtis Culwell Center attack
Curtis Culwell Center attack
Islamic Community Center of Phoenix