He moved to the Detroit Metro area to work in the Highland Park Ford Plant, like many other Muslim immigrants.

As a result of Highland Park's growing Muslim population, which was an estimated 16,000 at the time, Karoub used his money to purchase land for a mosque.

[1][3] It was reported that Karoub received funding for the mosque from "every section of the United States and from foreign lands.

The Detroit Free Press reported in 1924 that the constant traffic and noise in the area made the location unsuitable for a mosque.

The lack of sufficient funding may have also been a problem, and people had varying visions for how it should have been built.