Bally’s Chicago ‘Mosque’ Casino Draws Mistaken Outrage
Posted on: September 15, 2023, 11:35h.
Last updated on: September 15, 2023, 03:26h.
Bally’s Casino at Medinah Temple has been causing a stir among some Muslim social media users since it opened last Saturday. That’s because of the misapprehension that it is a mosque.
The casino, Chicago’s first, is temporary and will exist until Bally’s completes the construction of a permanent riverfront property scheduled to open in 2026. And it’s easy to see why it might be mistaken for a mosque.
Originally an auditorium, the Medinah Temple was built in 1912 in the Moorish Revival style, which appropriated the arches and domes used in Islamic architecture. In short, it looks like a mosque. Piling on the confusion, inscribed above the entrance of the building are the Arabic words “كَلِمَاتْ اَلطَّيِّبَة,” which means “There is no God but Allah,” taken from the first kalima of the Koran.
“Social media platforms in Muslim-majority countries, such as Pakistan and Turkey, have been buzzing with [the] controversial claim,” the Times of Islamabad reported.
Muslims are forbidden to gamble, according to the Quran. Games of chance are described as a “grave sin” and “abominations of Satan’s handiwork” in the text. Some of the most strident voices have argued the casino is a direct provocation to Muslims.
Controversial Aesthetic
But while the Medinah Temple has been, at various points, a concert hall, a circus, and a Bloomingdale furniture store, it has never been a mosque.
It was built by the Shriners, a Masonic organization that included John Wayne and President Harry Truman among its numbers. Shriners refer to themselves formally as the “Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.” But there is nothing Arabic about them. They adopted a Middle Eastern aesthetic for fun. The passage from the Koran appears on the door because it is a rip off of the Alhambra in Spain, which Muslims built in the 13th century,
Freemasons refer to their meeting places as “temples,” adding to the misconception that the building has religious significance.
While the new casino is not a direct provocation to Muslims, the presence of the kalima above the entrance and the use of the name Medinah may still be offensive.
Medinah, or Medina, in Saudi Arabia, is the last resting place of the Prophet Mohammed and one of the most sacred sites in Islam.
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Last Comments ( 8 )
Why the outrage? I went there to the circus when I was a kid. Muslims hold prayer services at midway Airport TNP lot in the bus shuttle shelter, for Pete's sake. Not too far from the Porta potties. That's also not so sacred now, is it???
For Muslims the Love of God and his Messenger is immeasurable, and nothing vaguely comes close to that love. Most in the western hemisphere can not comprehend that love of God and His messenger who they consider the last prophet sent by God to humanity. Failure to comprehend and appreciate Muslims sentiments lead to a great crack in the relationship between the Muslim world and the west, and that is what is happening across the globe of disrespect and humiliation to Muslim’s faith, the interesting thing is still Muslims don’t face these insults with similar insults, that is because they are prohibited by God to desecrate other faiths.
Most westerners don't practice their religion nor do they respect it that's why they are okay with a church becoming a nightclub or a bar where as most Muslims try to practice their religion and have deep respect for it. I fail to see why people in the west continues to provoke this particular religion. They would not dare to do that with Jewish or Hindu religion. In my opinion, respect all religions and stop disrespecting period.
Absolutely terrible choice, talk about playing with emotions. The a place of such activity is aestetically modelled on Muslim architecture is disturbing not only because it conflicts but also because it presents the Islamic motto, part of which is to profess there is no God but God (Allah) but then, whilst on the face of it, it may appear to mock, it may open hearts out of curiosity -
When my 33 year old son was a Kindergartner (1995) his classroom had a field trip to the Medinah "Temple". The featured event, Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey's Circus. It (temple) has been an entertainment venue for the past 25 years or more. No prayers being said there.
The Arabic text, though from Qura'an, is neither from First Kalima, not does it mean "there is no God but Allah". The text is from Alhambra in Andalusia and reads as "wa la Ghalib illalah" "و لا غالب الا الله" there is no vanquisher (victor) except Allah. It was the motto of the Nasrid, the last Arab, dynastyof Granada.
This is pathetic, it is direct attack on Muslim Faith
I don't care if people want to gamble in the casino until they are dead broke. But, I just don't understand why such provocative Name and Architecture to a building? Of all the name in the world why name according to muslim sacred land of Madinah? And why inscribe the verses from the Quran to the entrance? And why built something that look like a place for Muslim to worship when it will be a gambling area.