Central mosque open house ‘safe place to ask, listen and share’

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This article was published 31/07/2023 (803 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Instead of responding with anger or fear to recent incidents of Islamophobia, Muslims plan to open their doors to Winnipeggers for some tea and a chat.

“This is for ordinary people just wanting to have a heart-to-heart conversation,” said Shahina Siddiqui of Islamic Social Services Association about the upcoming open house Thursday at Winnipeg Central Mosque.

“They can expect it would be a safe place to ask, listen and share.”

Sponsored jointly by ISSA and the mosque, the open house is a response to the June stabbing of a Black Muslim woman at a Transcona restaurant and increased incidents of harassment and Islamophobia experienced by other visibly Muslim women on buses or at schools, organizers said.

“I’ve been counselling girls wearing hijab who have been harassed and spit on,” said Siddiqui.

Muslims across Canada say they’re experiencing more Islamophobia, although they’re often reluctant to report incidents to police, said Aasiyah Khan, interim chief executive officer of the Toronto-based National Council of Canadian Muslims.

Khan said Canadians also should lament the fact Canada leads G7 nations in Islamophobia-related deaths.

“It goes against everything what people think Canada should be,” she said of the 10 fatalities among Canadian Muslims in the last six years, including attacks in mosques and the 2021 attack on a London, Ont., family out for a walk.

Canadians can combat Islamophobia by becoming empowered bystanders, said Khan, adding the council provides bystander intervention training.

Just like in a medical emergency, someone at the scene needs to delegate duties to bystanders, so people can provide an accurate report of what happened if they are unable to stop the incident, she said.

“Call the police, record the incident. Jot down names and numbers.”

Getting involved as a bystander means recognizing each other as equals and getting to know each other, instead of labelling Muslims as outsiders, said Siddiqui.

“How did we get to this point? We demonize the other,” she said. “We are not born to hate, we’re taught to hate.”

Billed as an event to “defeat hate with knowledge and compassion,” the two-hour open house includes a short presentation at 6:30 p.m., small group discussions, and a question-and-answer period, and refreshments of chai and samosas.

Along with the formal program, the evening offers Winnipeggers a chance to visit a mosque and understand a bit more about the wide variety of people who pray and meet there, said Idris Knapp, executive director of Winnipeg Central Mosque.

“How many people pass by the mosque every day and don’t know what’s happening?” he said of the facility at 715 Ellice Ave. “This is trying to find an opportunity to engage the city.”

The event is free, but registration is required at issacanada.com.

brenda.suderman@freepress.mb.ca

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