كندا: أول مسجد في أونتاريو يحتفل بمرور 50 عاما على إنشائه

خبر من مصادر إنجليزية.

يحتفل المسلمون بمقاطعة "أونتاريو" الكندية بمرور 50 عامًا على إنشاء أول مسجد بالمقاطعة، وثاني مساجد "كندا"، وهو "مسجد لندن" الذي أصبح وِجْهة يقصدها مسلمو "كندا" منذ نحو 10 سنوات.

وقد بدأت فكرة إنشاء المسجد بعد استقرار 12 أسرة لبنانية بمدينة "لندن" الكندية، واحتياجهم لمكان للصلاة وممارسة الشعائر.

وحتى عام 1964 - عام إنشاء المسجد - لم يكن في "كندا" سوى "مسجد إيدمونتن"، ثم أصبح قِبلة للمسلمين الذين يسألون عن المساجد عند حلولهم بأي دولة للاطمئنان على ممارسة الشعائر والاجتماع بالمسلمين؛ المصدر: شبكة الألوكة.

يرجى الإشارة إلى المصدر عند نقل الخبر - شبكة الألوكة.

الخبر من مصدره الأصلي:

Ontario First Mosque Marks 50th Anniversary

Ontario Muslims will be celebrating this week the golden jubilee of the construction of their first mosque in London city and the second in Canada, rejoicing the place that has become a destination for Canadian Muslims decades ago.

“It’s a place where people come to relax, to identify, to establish new friendships, to outreach to the neighborhoods around the mosque and meet new friends,” Dr. Munir El-Kassem, told AM980 Radio station on Friday, August 15.

Dr El-Kassem was speaking about London Mosque, which was established in Ontario 50 years ago on Oxford Street.

It started after 12 Lebanese immigrant families settled in London and wanted a communal place of worship.

Buying a house in Oxford street, it was demolished to make place for their new mosque.

At its inauguration, the mosque was the only one in the whole Ontario and the second in Canada.

Soon after construction was completed in 1964, it began attracting Muslims from around the world.

The only other mosque operating in the country at that time was in Edmonton.

“The mosque is certainly a converging point for people,” said Dr. El-Kassem.

“When Muslims arrive in the city, it’s the first place they ask about. They go for worship, and more than that, they go to get assistance to settle and to socialize with people who have been in the city before them.”