Houston is a city known for going big. America’s ninth-largest city by land area, it is home to the world’s largest medical center, one of the nation’s biggest ports, and Texas’ second-tallest building.
Houston’s Christianity is also big, hosting some of the most mega of megachurches, including Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church and the largest Episcopal church in the nation.
But it is also one of the US’s most religiously diverse cities. And another major religious space will soon join in: The Ismaili Center Houston.
Ismailis are a branch of Shiite Muslims who believe that religious authority continues through a line of imams—divinely guided descendants of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam. The center in Houston is owned by one of two main Ismaili branches, the Nizari Ismailis, who constitute around 1 percent of the global Muslim population.