Photos: Thai Muslims
Thai immigrants Rahmat Phyakul, 73, and wife Sukatee, 71, shown reflected in a framed mirror etched with verses from the Koran, started the Masjid Al-Fatiha in Azusa in the late 1990s. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
Masjid Al-Fatiha, unobtrusively situated on a busy street in Asuza, is believed to be the first American mosque created by Thai Muslims.
A family leaves the mosque after Friday prayers. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
Samir Sultan, 76, right, meets his grandchildren and son-in-law after Friday prayers. The mosque has a relaxed atmosphere, with families and friends mingling after prayers in main prayer hall. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
Ziad Khan, 38, left, watches his 1-year-old daughter Zaina, right, crawling in the mosque’s prayer hall after Friday prayers. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
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Sukatee and Rahmat Phyakul gaze up at a skylight in newly renovated high ceilings at their mosque. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
Muslims from diverse ethnic backgrounds offer night prayers. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
Sukatee Phyakul helps husband Rahmat in trying on a Moroccan robe he received as a gift. She also helped him learn how to be the mosque’s imam. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
Community dinners are a regular fixture, especially on weekends, at most major mosque. For mosques with smaller congregations, like Masjid Al Fatiha, it can be a struggle to hold such dinners. On this Sunday only four people attended, including Rosalie Sann, left, prayer caller Ghazali Musa and Rahmat Phyakul. Sann and Ismael Saleh (not in photo) are two Koran memorizers who were specially brought in from Cambodia to lead nightly prayers during Ramadan. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)