It was co-founded in New York City's fabled Spanish Harlem by three Puerto Rican Muslims – John (Yahya) Figueroa, Ramon (Rahim) Ocasio, and Freddie (Ibrahim) Gonzalez, who all lived within five blocks of each other.
In 1986, the trio collaborated on a successful event at the Museo del Barrio on Fifth Avenue in New York entitled "Reclamado Nuestra Herencia Islamica (Reclaiming Our Islamic Heritage).
There they met Daniel Ahmad Mena from Florida and Carl Askia Al Amin from Chicago, who, along with Figueroa, Ocasio, and Gonzalez, formed the first iteration of Alianza Islamica.
A virtual, three-city partnership, it most notable accomplishment was its eponymous journal, the first bilingual Islamic periodical ever published in the United States.
In the late 80s, Figueroa and Ocasio discussed going in a new direction: the establishment of a Barrio-based storefront center inspired by the Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood's tea room of the '70s.
A significant number of spousal abuse cases, primarily in marriages between Latinas and Arab husbands, prompted Alianza Islamica also to take action in and initiate a counseling program in this area.
Alianza used the opportunity to establish La Mezquita del Barrio, the first Latino Muslim mosque on the East Coast, and quite possibly the nation.
After 30 years on the railroad, Figueroa devoted himself to drug counseling and writing and lecturing on Alianza Islamica's legacy and Islam's spiritual dimension.
In 2021, Rahim Ocasio with Juan Jose Galvan announced their book project, Alianza Islamica: Spanish Harlem’s Islamic Odyssey.