The first mosque in Erin reflects a growing Muslim population and need for mosques in rural Wellington County.
Formerly the Erin Village Alliance Church, the new mosque and community centre officially opened its doors April 14 after the heritage building was purchased March 21 this year.
Resident of Brampton, business owner in Erin and now president of the mosque, Kashif Ali says he purchased the mosque as an act of sadaqah jariyah - an ongoing charity in Islam that continues to provide benefit to the community long after an individual passes away - as a tribute to his mom who passed away a year ago.
“So I dedicated it to my mom whose name was Qamar, and I decided to give her name to this location,” says Ali who named the mosque Dar Ul Qamar.
“We figured out there is no mosque till far away. Nothing in Rockwood, Georgetown, Orangeville, Fergus, Arthur, Hillsburgh, there are no mosques,” says Ali.
He says he realized he made a good decision by purchasing the mosque when he saw people visiting from neighbouring towns and saw a surge of worshippers in the month of Ramadan at the beginning of May.
“Our belief is that once you make a worship place, and people are served here. You get the reward because you’re serving the community,” says chair member Atif Moin.
“We are here to help the community. Not to take away anything from them.”
Ali says the mosque offers prayer services and education services for kids and adults for the community. He also encourages community members to come into the mosque to learn about Islam.
“We like to invite people to see what we are doing and if they have any questions about Islam, we can teach them,” says Ali.
“Even though this is a Muslim religious spot, we invite everyone. If they have any questions or if they want to learn about Islam and learn about what we’re doing, we welcome them.”
Ali says the mosque intends on organizing cultural and community events that serve the surrounding area. He says the surrounding churches such as the Knox Presbyterian Church meet approximately once a month to organize community events for which the mosque was also invited to be a part of.
“The community is very welcome and very pleasant,” says Ali.
"In the future, whatever community events with the churches take place, we will be a part of that and when we do our events, they will be a part of it."
The mosque has six chair members who are all residents of Brampton and it coordinates events in collaboration with Jame Makki Masjid, a prominent mosque in Brampton.
Chair member Behzad Anwer says he urges the community to come and learn at the new mosque and build relationships with the community.
“This is the place to serve. We have to teach and we are open to everyone. Anyone can come,” says Anwer.
“The main cause for a Muslim is to maintain good relationships with humanity.”
