(RNS) — On the first night of Ramadan, worshippers stood shoulder to shoulder on rows of blue prayer rugs beneath the glow of string lights in a former elementary school gym in Lubbock, Texas.

Just weeks earlier, the building had been abandoned and in disrepair.

Mohamad Altabaa, a third-year medical student at Texas Tech University, and his physician friend bought the former Arnett Elementary School in January with an ambitious goal: open a mosque and community hub in 45 days, just in time for Ramadan.

“It was in horrible condition,” he said, noting the building had been unused since a church sold it in 2024.…