New mosque to serve growing Nigerian community

It started out serving the Sikh community as a community centre. Then, it was a Christian church. Today, the building in Linden Ridge is the city’s newest mosque.

Called the Al-Haqq Masjid, the 7,600-square-foot mosque at 500 Dovercourt Dr. officially opened to serve Winnipeg’s growing Nigerian Muslim community Saturday.

“We had been struggling for many years to find a place to meet,” its volunteer imam, Yanusa Salami, said. “This will give us a place to gather and enable us to provide programs for adults and youth.”

The mosque began in 2009 with five families meeting in homes. As the group grew, they began meeting in rented space at the Grand Mosque in 2013. Today, more than 200 families are part of the Al-Haqq masjid.

The cost of buying the building was $2.2 million. With $700,000 already raised by the members, there’s $1.5 million to go to pay it off — something they hope to do in two years.

The mosque’s members are raising additional funds to make the washrooms more suitable for ritual washing before prayers, along with new kitchen appliances, a security system and a prayer carpet for the main meeting space.

Although the new mosque has been established by the Nigerian community, “It is for everyone,” Salami said. “Everyone is welcome here.”

One person who was glad to hear that was Masallah Emre, who lives in the area.

“When I saw the building up for sale, I thought it would make a great mosque,” Emre, a Kurd from Turkey who lives a five-minute walk away, said.

“I’m delighted to have a mosque so close. Now, my wife and I can walk here for prayers. It’s fantastic.”

Abdo El Tassi is also glad to see a new mosque in that part of Winnipeg. A prominent local Muslim community leader and philanthropist, he was one of the founders of the first mosque in Winnipeg — the Pioneer Mosque in St. Vital, started 50 years ago in 1975.

The opening of the city’s 10th mosque is “amazing for the whole Muslim community,” El Tassi said.

“The more mosques that are built, the better it is for the Muslim community. We celebrate each one.”

He is especially appreciative of the building’s interfaith history. It has, El Tassi said, transitioned from “one place of worship to another” in a way that underscores the benefit of living in a place like Canada.

“Everyone can freely practice their religion here,” he said.

Ismael Mukhtar, an imam at the Grand Mosque, addressed the group gathered for the official opening. The mosques in Winnipeg serve different communities, he said, “But in the end, we are one body, with the same purpose.”

Mukhtar encouraged local Muslims to see themselves as part of the larger Islamic community in Winnipeg and not to think “in a segmented way,” as is occurring in some other Canadian cities.

“Let’s not let that happen here,” he said.

Kabir Oladeji, president of the Al-Haqq mosque, said the official opening was a “very special” day.

“I thank God for making it possible. We had been praying for it for many years. And now the dream has become a reality.”

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