It was a year ago today when a mass shooting took the lives of six worshipers and injured 19 others at the Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec City.
The event shook Canadians across the country. The Muslim community in Kingston has since received an outpouring of support from individuals of different faiths and cultures.
Chair of the outreach committee, Mohamed Bayoumi, says, “There was a lot of support from many people, many we know and people we don’t know. After people do such an event, they want something negative out of it and the outcome is always positive.”
However, since the event, people who regularly visit the Kingston mosque admit they are more aware of their surroundings.
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“Every time I turn my back to the door and go into the prayer space, I feel like maybe someone will come after this community,” says Taoufik Mounib who has been visiting the Kingston Mosque for 21 years.
The community is also comforted by the positivity and support they’ve received in the past year since the shooting.
Khadeeja has been attending the Kingston Mosque for 13 years and says “it’s really nice to see everyone come together as one community to mourn over the cause.”
Not everyone feels that the change has been a positive one, specifically in Quebec.
“You would think that with all the support that they saw after the shooting that things would have improved but they have been victims of Islamophobic acts since before the shooting and it hasn’t really improved for the better afterwards which is very surprising,” says Mona Rahman, the education co-ordinator at the Islamic Centre of Kingston.
In reaction to this, the National Council of Canadian Muslims has proposed to the Canadian government to declare Jan. 29 as National Day of Remembrance and Action on Islamaphobia.
In Kingston, a memorial was held to honour the lives that were lost in the mass shooting in Quebec last year on this day.
“This is all about healing and moving forward,” says Rahman.