More than 1,500 people of all faiths joined at the Akram Jomaa Center in northeast Calgary Tuesday evening to rally against hatred and show support for Calgary’s Muslim community.
The event was solemn but also hopeful and unifying.
“I can see the support tonight. I can see that we are one. Why? Because we are Canadian,” Sheikh Jamal Hammoud, senior imam with the Muslim Council of Calgary (MCC), said.
Six people ranging in age from 35 to about 70 years old were killed during a shooting at a Quebec City mosque on Sunday night.
WATCH BELOW: Kim Smith spoke with the organizer about the importance of the event being held at a mosque.
“We never expected this number of people to come and we are so happy to see this level of support,” Mansour Shouman, the youth and outreach director with the MCC, said.
Speakers included Rabbi Joshua Corber of the Beth Tzedec Synagogue, Adrian Martens – a Roman Catholic deacon – and Bryan Little Chief, a Blackfoot elder from the Siksika Nation.
“We stand in solidarity, in unity with Muslim Canadians,” Little Chief said.
READ MORE: Calgary Muslims react to Quebec City mosque terror attack: ‘this event will not derail us’
Mayor Naheed Nenshi received a standing ovation after his speech asking for people to speak out against intolerance, hatred and fear.
“My heart breaks today, not because I am Muslim, but because I am human,” Nenshi said.
Saima Jamal was the main organizer of the event. She said it was purposely held in a mosque to reassure the community it’s a place to feel safe.
“We don’t want mosques to be a place of fear. And that is why we were all invited here in the Akram Jomaa mosque,” Jamal said.
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