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Islamic Center of Washington: what Wikipedia removed

The Islamic Center of Washington was the site of the 1977 Hanafi Siege, in which armed gunmen took hostages in Washington, D.C. In 2010 the opening named the “Hanafi Siege” and said “Muslim gunmen holding hostages made several demands,” including that a film be destroyed. Today’s opening covers only the mosque’s 1957 opening and its size; hostage survives twice elsewhere in the article. A reader today does not learn that gunmen took hostages at the center in 1977 or that the standoff is known as the Hanafi Siege.

The word “hostage” appeared 2 times in this article’s opening at its peak, in 2010. Today the opening carries none; the body carries 2. Checked against the full current article on 2026-08-01.

The tracked words, snapshot by snapshot

Section titled “The tracked words, snapshot by snapshot”
word20052010201520206 October 20232025
hostage020000

Counts are of the opening paragraph only, the part most readers, search engines and AI training sets ever quote.

What was taken out

Section titled “What was taken out”
  • The description of the mosque’s size on opening, reworded rather than removed.
  • The sentence naming the 1977 Hanafi Siege and describing gunmen holding hostages, dropped from the opening.

How it opened then, and now

Section titled “How it opened then, and now”

2005 (revision 17394292):

File:Islamic Center of Washington.JPG The Islamic Center of Washington The Islamic Center of Washington is a mosque and Islamic cultural center in Washington D.C. It is located on Embassy Row just east of the bridge over Rock Creek . When it opened in 1957 it was the largest Muslim place of worship in the Western Hemisphere. Some 6,000 people attend prayers there each Friday. The centre was originally conceived in 1944 when the Turkish ambassador died and there was no mosque to hold his funeral in. The Washington diplomatic community played a leading role in the effort to have a mosque constructed. Support came from most of the Islamic nations of the world who donated money, decorations, and…

2025 (revision 1294781312):

Mosque in Washington, D.C. The Islamic Center of Washington is a mosque and Islamic cultural center in Washington, D.C. It is located on Embassy Row on Massachusetts Avenue just east of the bridge over Rock Creek . When it opened in 1957, it was the largest mosque in the Western Hemisphere. ^ Stewart, Nikita (August 1, 2005). “Muslims Find Room to Grow in D.C.’s Outer Suburbs” . The Washington Post . Retrieved May 5, 2010 .

Section titled “Related”

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