Maliha Nazeer, a resident of Albany since 1989, remembers when there was only one halal market in the Capital Region when she first arrived here from Pakistan. Now, the world around her looks vastly different.
“Now we have a shop on every corner, halal and zabiha food is so much [more] available. And the whole cultural picture has changed in Albany.”
Halal translates to “permissible” in Arabic, and primarily refers to Islamic guidelines for slaughtering meat, but is often used to describe practices that adhere to the faith in Muslims’ daily lives, like not consuming alcohol or pork.
In the years since Nazeer has lived in Albany, the Muslim community has grown both in number and in diversity, with immigrants and refugees coming from several countries in South Asia and the Middle East. She is a long-time volunteer at the Islamic Center of the Capital District, and has seen firsthand how the Muslim community has grown. She described how different the Friday Juma’h prayers were now compared to when she first arrived in Albany.
“When we first came here, it was a very small, the ICCD was a very small mosque, and I think it was established maybe 50 years ago, and when I came they were already bursting out of their seams. We will have Juma’h on the top floor and the basement and the foyer and outside.”
As the community has grown, more businesses have opened that are catering to Muslims, with halal options across cuisines, including South Asian, Turkish, Afghan, Persian, and more. The latest addition to land in the Capital Region: Yemeni coffeehouses. Both Qahwah House and Qamaria Yemeni Coffee Company are planning to open franchises in Latham.
Qahwah House and Qamaria Yemeni Coffee are only two of the franchises of Yemeni coffeehouses that have now spread across the U.S. Other franchises include Haraz and Mokafé. With their late hours, often until 1 or 2 a.m., and offerings of coffee, chai, and Middle Eastern pastries, they have become spaces bustling with customers that are socializing, studying, or working late into the night. Coffee itself originated from Yemen; the word coffee has its roots in the Arabic kahwah, and the word "mocha" comes from the port of the same name in Yemen, from which coffee was exported all over the world.
Yemeni coffeehouses have even become sites of political events and organizing: most notably, New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has hosted fundraisers and campaign events at Yemeni coffeehouses in the city.
Ahsan Farooq, 34, has lived in Albany for 30 years, and has also seen a rapid growth in options for Muslims, but says that there still are not many cafes or spaces to socialize outside of their homes that people can go to later in the night. Farooq is the owner of the Albany franchise of Qahwah House, one of the largest Yemeni coffeehouse franchises. The coffeehouse will be in Latham, where there formally was a Dunkin’ Donuts and a Verizon store. The space will be more than 3,000 square feet, and will open late into the night, presenting a unique option for residents of the Capital Region that he says is not as costly as going to a bar or restaurant.
“Sometimes people just want to come and just have a coffee or have a dessert or whatever it is. And you know, if it's 10 o'clock at night, 11 o'clock at night, whatever it is, they just, you know, with a friend, with a sibling, whatever it is, we want that to be the space for Qahwah House. We want to be that spot. And quite frankly, it just does not exist in Albany.”
The building that will be the future Albany Qahwah House is currently empty and still undergoing demolition, but Farooq is excited about his vision for the space.
“Right when you walk in here, it's going to be, actually, right there, you're going to see a nice little roaster, and you're going to see that aroma, that smell. You're going to really feel like, hey, look, this is a nice and welcoming coffee shop.”
Ghous Barak is the owner of the Qamaria Yemeni Coffee Company franchise, which is opening at the former location of GameStop near Walmart in Latham on Loudon Road. He also hopes to create a space that can cater to people of all ages.
“People who need to study late, they can go there. If you want to meet up with your friends, it's a good place to go, or with family. It's a great option for everybody.”
Both Barak and Farooq plan to open past midnight in the month of fasting, Ramadan, which is the month during which Muslims do not eat or drink from dawn to dusk everyday. Muslims will often go to the mosque to pray at night, and both coffeehouse owners hope to serve people looking for a late-night snack after prayers.
Wesal Adam, a recent graduate of the University of Albany, and mentor to a youth group at the Al-Hidaya Mosque in Latham, hopes that the coffeehouses will be a welcoming space for young Muslims locally.
“I think it's just awesome to have more Muslim spaces and more options that we would be comfortable with. I'm a mentor for the youth group, and I feel comfortable knowing that there are more spaces that I can recommend my mentees to go and hang out.”
Adam said she goes to Qahwah House whenever she is in New Jersey or near New York City, and that she was particularly excited about the franchise coming to Albany.
“Whenever I do day trips with my friends to Jersey or to the city, we always try to make sure we stop by a location. And you couldn't imagine how excited we all were when we found out that we were going to be having one right here.”
Although they expect most of their clientele to be Muslim, both Barak and Farooq hope to serve all residents of the Capital Region.
“We want to be as much part of the community as possible. We want diversity now. We're not focusing on one demographic,” he said.
According to Barak, even 10 or 20 years ago, Albany did not have such a strong Muslim community or so many Muslim-owned businesses.
“I know the Muslim community here is growing every single day from like 10 years ago, 20 years ago, it's grown a lot," he said. "We have a lot more Halal options now.”
Having lived in Albany for nearly 40 years, Nazeer says she is happy to see how much more diverse the region has become.
“For a region or a city to grow, it's the diversity that makes it grow, and it creates more opportunities for all of us," she said. "And then, you know, it has created a mini-world for us in Albany, where we get to know people of different nations, and it reminds me of that word from the Quran that says, you know, ‘we made you into different tribes and nations so that you may know each other’."
