WINNIPEG — In a massive, empty mosque Monday morning, the Manitoba Islamic Association is preparing for a gathering they expect will pour out of the prayer area into the large gymnasium Monday night. A gathering to honour the victims of the shooting in a Quebec mosque Sunday that claimed six lives.
“I’m sad and very shocked to know what happened in my country, in Canada,” Tasneem Vali, of the Manitoba Islamic Association said. “You hear everything south of the border and you come to expect that now. But to have something happen so close to home is shocking.”
Vali said she’s overwhelmed by the outpouring of support since the Quebec attack. The phone has been ringing off the hook with community members and neighbors offering everything from food to prayers.
“A mosque, a church, a temple, a synagogue, all these places are places of safety. They have traditionally been where people go for sanctuary. And so to have something happen there is just horrendous,” she said.
It’s why the Winnipeg Grand Mosque is expected to fill for the Monday service, an event they refuse to approach with fear, instead viewing it as a chance to educate and unite.
“This is not something that we will tolerate as Canadians to happen to us,” Vali said. “It’s very sad that somebody had to go through such lengths instead of just dialogue.”
A sermon will begin at 8 p.m. at the Mosque at 2445 Waverley St., mostly in English. The doors will be open to everyone regardless of faith, background or beliefs.
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