It’s a Wednesday night and hundreds of Muslims pack the Islamic Center of America (ICA) for a lecture session to mark the end of their most significant and distinctive holiday called Ashura. At the same time, less than two miles east, Mohammed Hammoud and his relatives watch the same lecture at their own leisure, live on the Internet.

“I’m impressed,” Mohammed said watching with his family.

For the first time, The Young Muslim Association, affiliated with the ICA, broadcasts the nightly lectures live on its Web site. At least two other Dearborn-based mosques experimented with the same technology for its congregations.

Smiling with satisfaction, a member of the association said, “It’s unbelievable technology. It really is.”

The YMA used a video camera, cable, and free Internet TV service called Mogulus to transmit the mosque’s message nightly during the 10-day observance of Ashura, which marks the anniversary of the 7th century battlefield death of Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.

The message is still the same. The only difference is how the message is delivered. It’s a way for mosques to reach far away Muslims or nearby faithful who want to watch from the comfort of their own home, office, dorm room or cell phone.

“It was getting too crowded at the mosque,” Hammoud said. “And by the time you get done, it’s going to take a half hour to get out of the parking lot.”

The live Internet broadcast allowed Muslims from all over the globe to tune in every night during the first week of January. At its high point, the nightly sermons on the YMA’s Web site attracted 640 viewers, including one from Quebec, another from Switzerland, and a viewer from Savanna, Ga.

Today’s technology marks the latest evolution in how organizations or individuals deliver information. The classic congregational gatherings are slowly giving way to soaring Internet use, where younger people are getting their content. The world is changing, and young Muslims are changing with it.

“I see this as a new era because there are people who want to come, but can’t for a number of reasons,” said a YMA member. “But they have Internet access. So, this is a way for us to reach the people. If the scenario is the same, we’re looking to broadcast live next Ramadan.”*