Many people in northwest Ohio, regardless of their religion, have referred to the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo in Perrysburg Township as “our mosque.”

The center is the representative picture of Islamic Toledo, housed in a grand structure that looks as if it was transplanted from the Middle East, complete with two minarets and, since 2004, a golden dome.

But it is not the only mosque in the area. There are 10. Most use the English language for at least parts of the service when people whose first language is English are present, in addition to worshipping in Arabic and sometimes other tongues. Nearly all the mosques have an international composition, and most of the worshippers are Middle Eastern or South Asian by heritage, or African-Americans.

Most Toledo-area Islamic congregations have a mixture of U.S.-born people who are in immigrant families as well as first-generation citizens and residents of other countries who live in the area.

All the mosques will have special prayers and activities, either nightly or on certain occasions, during Ramadan, which begins at sundown Monday.

Ramadan is the annual Islamic holy month in which most Muslims fast during the daylight hours and gather at the end of the day for prayer and iftar, the fast-breaking meal. Ramadan is a time when Muslims give focus both to their individual spiritual lives and their religious community. Ramadan will likely end at sundown July 6; the schedule has some flexibility related to observation of the moon.

The Perrysburg mosque’s “main claim to fame,” despite the grandeur of its building, its website states, “is its equal and vibrant representation of women and the democratic and constitutional processes that the center diligently follows.” It had the first female president of an Islamic Center in the United States, Cherrefe Kadri, in 2001.

Before moving to Perrysburg in 1983, near the southern junction of I-75 and I-475, and taking “Greater Toledo” as part of its name, it was the Toledo Islamic Center at 722 E. Bancroft St. It was the first mosque in Ohio and the ninth in the nation, opening in 1954.

The state’s first Muslim society had been formally in existence in Toledo, without a mosque, since 1939 and received a state charter in 1943.

The original site on Bancroft Street houses another mosque, Toledo Masjid Al Islam.

There is also a newer Toledo Islamic Center, which is not related to the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo. The Toledo Islamic Center, in existence since the mid-1990s and worshipping in rented facilities, moved into a building at 5313 Dorr St. in about 2000. The site was a branch bank and still has a vault and unused teller windows. It is a member of the Association of Islamic Charitable Projects.

“We are extremely moderate,” said the Toledo Islamic Center’s imam, Wael Deeb. “We understand people are different. [That means different approaches in] how to approach people and how to conduct our faith and our religion, how to teach. And this is extremely important, especially for our communities and Toledo: We work with the community of Toledo to help others and to raise the awareness among the people about drugs, about alcohol, about everything. We try to raise a lot of awareness, Muslim and non-Muslim.”

Imam Farooq Aboelzahab, a former imam of the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo, is now the imam of the Islamic Society of North West Ohio, which meets in a Holland-Sylvania Road storefront but is considering relocation.

There is another Holland-Sylvania Road mosque further north, the Fatemah Islamic Center, but the area’s northernmost mosque is the Imam Ali Mosque in Lambertville.

The Masjid Saad Foundation has been in Sylvania since 2007, when it moved from Secor Road to Alexis Road in the former Cathedral of Praise.

The Toledo Muslim Community Center is interested in moving to Sylvania Township, but the township board of zoning appeals denied the center’s conditional-use request in November. Developers are expected to revise the plans, The Blade reported at the time.

Muhammad’s Mosque No. 91, 1698 Nebraska Ave., is a Nation of Islam institution that follows the leadership of Minister Louis Farrakhan and has a congregational focus on improving African-Americans.

Ahlul Bayt Center of Toledo, the area’s newest Muslim place of worship, opened the doors for its first prayer service Oct. 3, in a building at the intersection of Hill Avenue and Holland-Sylvania Road that was a Banner Mattress & Furniture Co. superstore. Ahlul Bayt means “people of the house of the prophet.”

Contact TK Barger @ tkbarger@theblade.com, 419-724-6278 or on Twitter @TK_Barger.

First Published June 4, 2016, 4:00 a.m.