Something for every stage of the journey.
From the youngest reciters to those newest to the faith, this is where the community gathers to learn, to serve, and to belong. Five programs run here, and two more exist to help pay for them. Every card below tells you what the program actually holds, so you know before you walk in.
Our programs
Every program here is open to the community, and none of them asks you to be a member first. Follow a card for the full page, or call the masjid and a person will point you the right way.
New Convert Program
No one should have to learn this faith alone.
A full year of guided support, from the first phone call through a graduation dinner at month twelve. Open to anyone in the Myrtle Beach area, including Muslims returning after time away.
- A personal mentor, matched by gender. Background screened and trained in confidentiality before the match, checking in every week through your first month and reachable after that.
- A 24 week foundations course. One 90 minute session a week across four modules, with printed handouts you keep and the imam in class once a month.
- A welcome kit handed over in person. A clear English translation of the Qur’an, a prayer rug, a wudu and salah step card, a dua booklet, and a handwritten welcome letter.
Youth Program
Strong faith. Strong minds. Strong future.
Ages 6 to 18, with a curriculum, a calendar, and a written safeguarding policy behind it. The goal is not to entertain young people. It is to prepare them to lead.
- Three age tracks, one path. Foundations for ages 6 to 10, Identity Formation for 11 to 14, and the Leadership Track for 15 to 18, each handing the young person forward rather than dropping them at the door.
- A themed year, four quarters. Identity, then Character, then Leadership, then Ramadan Readiness, with every halaqah, workshop, and service project in that quarter pulling the same direction.
- Safety written down, not assumed. Screened volunteers, background checks on the adults, the two adult rule that is never set aside, parent consent on file, and one coordinator accountable for all of it.
Ramadan Program
A month of mercy. A month of structure.
Every night of the month has a shape before the month begins. The sponsor calendar is filled, the teams know what they own, and the plan is published rather than passed around by word of mouth.
- The same rhythm every night. Dates and water before the adhan, Maghrib, iftar in the hall, a short reflection, then Isha and Taraweeh. Qiyam on the weekend nights, and Tahajjud in congregation through the last ten.
- An iftar system, not a scramble. One family, business, or group of friends takes each night, the youth service team runs setup and cleanup, and the sisters coordination team runs the floor.
- Zakat kept in its own ledger. Never pooled with sadaqah, never spent on a building, a light bill, or a salary, and every receipt carries a code anyone can verify afterwards.
Sisters Program
A space of your own, and a community around it.
Sisters have been part of Grand Strand Islamic Society since the beginning. The page is deliberately honest about what exists today and what the masjid is still confirming, so that nothing surprises you when you arrive.
- A private prayer space, already there. Set aside for the sisters since Phase I of the building was completed in 2013, open for every prayer, every day, with no need to call ahead.
- Jumu’ah every Friday. Khutbah begins at 1:30 PM and iqamah follows at 2:00 PM. Arriving by 1:15 leaves time to park and make wudu without rushing.
- Sisters at the heart of the week. They gather at Jumu’ah, at the iftars, and at the family programs through the year, and a newcomer gets folded in quickly, usually over tea.
Weekend Qur’an and Arabic School
From first letters to lifelong learning.
A weekend school for the children of this community, and for adults who want to start or continue their own journey with the Qur’an. Each class builds on the last, so a child who starts with the alphabet keeps growing year after year.
- Four subjects, taught together. Qur’an reading and memorization with correct pronunciation, the Arabic that unlocks the language, Islamic studies, and adab taught alongside all of it rather than as an afterthought.
- Adults learn here too. Classes run alongside other adults, at a pace built for beginners and for anyone returning to the Qur’an after years away.
- Terms across the school year. Classes meet on weekends, tuition is kept affordable for every family with discounts for siblings, and no child is ever turned away over cost.
The Friday Khutbah
The reminder you heard on Friday, and the one you missed.
Not a program you sign up for, but the one place on this site where the teaching of the week is kept rather than lost the moment everyone stands up.
- Posted with its speaker, its date, and a short summary, and the recording whenever there is one.
- A podcast feed you can paste anywhere. Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, or any app you already use, and every new khutbah arrives on its own.
Not sure which one is yours?
Three questions get almost everybody to the right door. Answer whichever one sounds like you, and if none of them do, call the masjid and ask for a person rather than a form.
You took your shahada, or you are exploring
Start with the New Convert Program. A mentor, a 24 week course, and somebody who sits beside you at your first three Jumu’ah prayers.
Roots and Belonging →You want them taught, and you want them safe
The Weekend School is where a child learns to read the Book. The Youth Program is where they learn to live by it. The calendars are set so the two do not collide, and most families here do both.
Weekend School →You have a few hours a month to give
Mentors carry the convert program, screened volunteers carry the youth program, and the iftar calendar needs a household on every night of Ramadan. All three start with one conversation.
Talk to the masjid →Never been inside the building before? New Here? walks through a first visit step by step, from where to park to which door is yours.
Two programs that help pay for the rest
The classes run whether ten people come or eighty, and consistency costs money. These two turn something you were going to buy anyway into support for the building that serves you.
Community Totes
A tote you will actually use, funding a masjid you already love.
Canvas bags sized for real errands rather than a photograph. What is left after the cost of making one comes straight back to the masjid.
- Four designs, in limited runs. The GSIS original with its Grand Strand illustration, Carry Barakah, Community Over Consumption, and Ramadan Mubarak. When a run is gone it may not return.
- Pickup or local delivery, your choice. Collect it at the masjid after a prayer, or ask for delivery on the Grand Strand. Both are free, with nothing added at checkout for either.
- A person reads every order. Somebody from the masjid follows up using the details you entered, so a gift deadline or a problem is sorted out in a conversation rather than chased through a courier.
Food Trays
A fundraiser you can eat, run by the community it pays for.
The masjid cooks and packs the food, sells it to the people who pray here and to their neighbors, and puts the proceeds back into operations and programs. The margin is the donation.
- Two counters, one kitchen. Order online through the same secure checkout as the rest of the store, with card or Apple Pay, or pay at the food table after Jumu’ah and at the bazaar through QuickPay.
- Collected in person at the masjid. Everything is local pickup at 4328 Waccamaw Blvd. Nothing food related is shipped anywhere.
- Seasonal batches, not a standing menu. The heaviest season is Ramadan, Eid brings sweets and gift boxes, and quantities are capped on purpose.
Every one of these rests on volunteers.
Not one program on this page is staffed by paid employees. A mentor gives a year to one person. A screened volunteer gives a Saturday to somebody else’s teenager. A household takes a night of Ramadan and feeds a hall of strangers. If you have time, the masjid needs it more than it needs anything else, and there is a role that fits whatever you can actually give.
If you would rather support the work than run it, giving is the other half. The welcome kits, the printed handouts, and the graduation dinner are all paid for by the community, and every gift lands in a named fund with a receipt you can verify afterwards.
Ask a person
Call (843) 902-2808 or write to secretary@gsismasjid.org and say which program you are asking about. Somebody from the masjid answers, and you are never handed a form instead of an answer.
Prayer times are calculated fresh every morning on Prayer Times, and everything with a date on it sits on Events.
Becoming a member is separate from joining any program here. None of these ask you to be one first. Membership explains what it actually means.