YK’s Muslim community gathers at new Islamic centre for Ramadan

It still needs some final touches, but people have begun to gather at Yellowknife’s long-awaited new Islamic centre.

Hundreds of Muslim residents in the city have been attending the new centre for prayer during Ramadan as first reported by the CBC.

The new building replaces the previous Islamic centre in Yellowknife’s Old Town, which was torn down in 2019. Since then, members of the city’s Muslim community met in various locations to worship including a unit at the Monkey Tree Plaza, the multiplex and school gyms.

“It’s meant everything to us,” Safaa Osman, a volunteer on the centre’s outreach committee, said of the new Islamic Centre of Yellowknife.

“Having a permanent space represents stability. The mosque is more than just a place to pray. It’s where we gather, where we educate, it’s where we build community.”

Osman said the Yellowknife mosque “becomes especially lively” during Ramadan, the ninth and holiest month of the Islamic calendar.

This year, Ramadan began on the evening of February 17 and runs until March 19.

Ramadan is observed with fasting, communal prayer, charity and spiritual reflection. Osman said many people attend the mosque in Yellowknife for nightly prayers and congressional prayers on Fridays.

Osman said she previously struggled to find and make Muslim friends in Yellowknife but, now the new mosque is open, she has made many new friends and it has been easier to connect with more people from different backgrounds.

Being in a smaller city, she said, “sticking to your faith can feel very private and isolating.”

“So having this permanent space has solved that issue for me personally where I’m able to come here and meet other people, connect and really build myself spiritually in that way,” said Osman. “I’m just really grateful to have that.”

Osman said her faith means everything to her.

“It’s really what leads my life. I firmly believe in it. It’s what gives me peace,” she said. “I think as I’ve grown I can honestly say that I’m more proud to be Muslim today more than ever.”

Among the features of Yellowknife’s new Islamic centre is an intricate dome with a skylight over the prayer room. The dome was designed by Guy Architects and inspired by the beaver dam and traditional Islamic architure.

The building also has Wudu or ablution facilities, space designed for people to cleanse before prayer, and Osman said the centre will host the only Muslim funeral preparation space in the territory.

The building is awaiting approval to finish a kitchen.

Yaqub Adepoju, another volunteer at the Islamic centre, said it’s great to have a permanent place for the Muslim community to gather.

“The beauty of our religion is that we do things together,” he said.

“It’s a joyful thing for Muslims to also meet other Muslims and tell them about your life, your experience, your pain – and they can also support you.”

Adepoju added that being with other Muslim people makes fasting during Ramadan easier.

He said everyone is welcome at the Islamic centre.

Ahmed Hassan also volunteers at the Islamic centre. He said neighbours and community members have been accepting and supportive of the new space.

“It’s more than a prayer place for us. We see it as more of like a community centre,” he said.

Hassan said, for him, Islam is a way of living.

“These values, when you look at it, it’s not very different from the values that we have in the country here … the Canadian values and the northern values,” he said, giving the examples of helping those in need and resilience.

Ramadan is also a month of compassion, he added, and sharing food and feelings.

Once the Islamic centre is ready for visitors, Hassan said people will be invited to attend an open house.