New mosque officially open in former Catholic Church as Eid celebrations begin

William Ping · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 30, 2025 1:01 PM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

For Muslims successful Newfoundland and Labrador, Sunday represented some the extremity of Ramadan and a caller opening for the community.

When the assemblage met for greeting prayers successful honour of Eid-al-fitr, they gathered in a caller mosque located successful the erstwhile Mary Queen of Peace Catholic Church connected Torbay Road successful St. John's. 

With astir 6000 successful attendance for a brace of supplication sessions, Muslim Association of Newfoundland and Labrador President Haseen Khan says the lawsuit is simply a large time for his assemblage for respective reasons. 

"People are precise happy, radical are excited, radical person consciousness of ownership, they person consciousness of joyousness that present they person a spot wherever they tin each commune arsenic 1 group, arsenic 1 community," said Khan.

After buying the religion successful December, the Association worked hard to renovate successful clip to person it unfastened for Eid, 1 of the holiest times successful the Muslim calendar. 

"This is simply a large solemnisation for Muslims. This marks the completion of 1 period of fasting, 1 period of training. Training for God consciousness, grooming for self-discipline, self-restraint, caring and sharing and it is 1 of the 5 pillars of Islam," Khan said. 

"We are celebrating Eid, but we are besides celebrating praying of Eid for the archetypal clip successful this caller mosque," helium said. "It's a precise peculiar time for Muslims successful Newfoundland and Labrador. They are capable to commune nether 1 extortion arsenic 1 community. So it is exciting, it is reassuring and it is pleasing."

Khan said specified a large assemblage shows disconnected the scope of diverseness wrong the Muslim community. 

"At the aforesaid clip it shows the unity of the faith," helium said. "Spiritually we are each united, but we person our ain taste diversity, our ain values. But again, we each judge successful 1 God and we each judge successful 1 benignant of ritual, which is the fasting of 1 period and past celebrating the completion of that fasting done this prayer."

Others successful attendance loved the mode the caller mosque united the community.

"It's truly beauteous to spot each these antithetic radical from each antithetic walks of beingness coming to 1 spot to worship God and signifier their faith, and it conscionable shows the acceptance and the emotion that we person present successful Newfoundland," said Hady Ghoneim, 1 of the radical contiguous for the greeting prayer.

"You consciousness safe, you consciousness the emotion … you consciousness truly welcomed. The emotion and acceptance we person successful this assemblage is precise awesome to see."

Ghoneim said it's bully that the erstwhile religion inactive serves a akin purpose. 

"It's inactive being utilized to worship God," Ghoneim  said. "We're each the same. We're each one, conscionable from 1 broadside to the other. I'm gladsome to spot it."

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