The Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship was founded by the Muhammad Raheem Bawa Muhaiyaddeen, a revered Sufi saint from the island of Sri Lanka who came to Philadelphia in 1971. In 1973, the Fellowship purchased the Brill Residence at 5820 Overbrook Avenue, a large Colonial Revival home built in 1904-1905 by the American architect Walter F. Price that was at the time serving as a synagogue. The fellowship serves as a meeting house for individuals to study the life and teachings of M.R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen, and as a repository for books, audio and video cassettes, and other material. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen resided in the house until his death in 1986.