Assalamualaikum! (Peace may be upon you) I had the wonderful
opportunity to attend our local mosque here in Abbotsford where they held a
vigil on January 31st for the six victims that were killed at a
Quebec mosque. The attack is being
called a “ terrorist” attack by many brought many Canadians together from all
faiths. One thing that is very clear is
if you keep an open mind with a purpose to learn it is amazing what can be
accomplished. That is exactly what I had in mind to do when this opportunity
can up to support our local Muslim community and to see what can be done to
break down walls and build further bridges.
Actually, this was my first opportunity attending a mosque where
many visitors were paying their respects to the victims bringing flowers and filling
an entire table. Many dignitaries were in attendance: Mayor Henry Braun, MLA Darryl Plecas, Coun. Kelly Chahal, Coun.
Sandy Blue and Abby Police Chief Bob Rich.
All spoke to share their grief and ensure the public that we all stand
with our Muslim brothers and sisters and that we have much more in common than
we differ. Many leaders from various faiths were also offering their prayers to
express our joint commonality. The
Abbotsford Islamic Centre opened in 2009 on Salton Rd and before that the
community met at Cedar Park in Abbotsford.
Iman Islam Khokhar, who is a religious scholar at the centre
spoke at the vigil and shared some thoughts as to how we can create further
dialogue preventing further attacks. He
said: “It is nice to see the discussions between the non Muslim and Muslim
communities. The bigger issue in all of
this is Muslims have all Canadian values, and have men and women who serve in
all levels of society to protect our nation. It is unfortunate to see that we
have just received that recognition.
“As Muslims we are making further efforts to reach out to
the greater community and would like to invite everyone to drop by at our open
house tomorrow Saturday, Feb 11th from 10-3pm. People, who have questions
or concerns should come and meet with members. There are many misconceptions and one of them
are that men and women are not equal in Islam. In reality, women have more
rights than men in our culture. For example, it is a man’s responsibility to
provide for his wife and children and mother. The women have the right to
refuse to work and that is how the majority of Muslim families think.
“If Muslims were violent people they would have retaliated
against those who were involved in the Quebec attack. Majority of Muslims are
not violent and condone it.”
The 14th Annual Cultural Diversity Awards will be
happening on Friday, March 3rd from 6-9pm at the Quality Inn and
Conference Centre in Abbotsford. It’s always a fun evening meeting some of our
outstanding leaders in diversity. This year’s Masters of Ceremonies is again
Free Lee from CBC Radio and the Guest Speaker will be Tamara Taggard from CTV
News. For more information and tickets contact
Patricia Driessen at cda@
No comments:
Post a Comment