The Ahmadiyya Muslim community in Regina came together on Saturday to celebrate 10 years since the opening of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mosque, also known as the Mahmood Mosque. “It feels like it’s gone by in a snap of a finger, while also feeling like the longest time in certain days,” said Madeeh Rehman, external affairs representative. The mosque was built on Nov. 4, 2016. For a few years, volunteers from Regina and all-around North America volunteered their time to assist in the construction. While he was doing his bachelor’s degree at the University of Regina, Rehman was one of many volunteers who would help with the building process. He said people from around Canada travelled to Regina to help with construction, along with people travelling from the United States and the United Kingdom. “It’s crazy to think that that was where I was 10 years ago, that I was basically going to school full time and then coming here right after classes and working, and then still able to get decent enough marks,” he said with a laugh. Rehman said volunteers were working on construction almost every day, even during the winter. “A lot of the guys who volunteered were here early in the morning, and they would stay here until 10 or 11 p.m. at night - and we weren’t getting paid either,” he said. “A lot of these guys gave up their day jobs for that time, which was an incredible sacrifice for them to do.” The Mahmood Mosque was the first one to be built in Saskatchewan. The mosque has close to 200 families that are currently regular members. “We have had a number of members come in from various faiths who have prayed here and will continue to always be welcome to pray here,” Rehman said. On Saturday, the mosque held an open house to bring the larger community to meet with Muslim members. “There’s often times that people have not met with anyone who is Muslim or knows anything about the faith,” Rehman said. “It’s just a way for us to not only learn about our neighbours and friends who are in our neighbourhood, but also for them to learn about us so that we can continue to build bridges.” Farhan Iqbal, National Secretary of Faith Outreach and Imam for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at in Canada, made his return to Regina. The last time Iqbal visited Regina was for the grand opening in 2016. Since then, he has seen the growth in houses around it. “We had so many good times as well in those 10 years and so much growth and so much happiness in that time, as well as that, we’re just glad that we can be here to celebrate 10 years again.” Iqbal travels around Canada for interfaith events to dispel myths about Islam. “People have a fear about Sharia law and those kinds of things, so our objective is to dispel those kinds of myths that people have, that people have a fear of Muslims and we want to get rid of that,” he said. “We want to be open to the community here and show them what Islam truly is, Islam is a peace loving religion. Our motto is love for all, hatred for none.” The 10 year reunion has also seen the growth of local children who were at the opening as babies. Eleven-year-old Danish Ahmed was at the grand opening in 2016, where he and his family took a picture with the fifth Khalifa, Hazrat, Mirza Masroor Ahmad, who was visiting Regina at the time. “I was very young, I was like one or two, and me, my brother and my dad, we all took a picture with the fifth Khalifa which was very special to me,” he said. “It’s important to acknowledge that there are different religions in our community, but we all have to live together and work together to make Canada a better place,” said Member of Parliament Michael Kram. “I have noticed that this particular community has always been very open and inclusive, and particularly mindful of those who are less fortunate.” Call to prayer While the Regina City Jamia Masjid received criticism for their call to prayer this past summer, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mosque Regina did not go through with one when it was completed in 2016. Rehman said they decided to consult with neighbouring residents and decided to just broadcast it from within Mahmood. “Early on in the construction process, we did think about doing a call to prayer broadcast,” he said. “We asked some of our neighbouring buildings if that would be something they were comfortable with. Sometimes a call to prayer can happen quite early in the morning or quite late at night. So, we came to the decision that was probably best that we just keep the call to prayer inside our own mosque. With the backlash directed towards the Regina City Jamia Masjid, Rehman said the Ahmadiyya community still stands with them, explaining what the call to prayer is. ‘We’re not trying to convert people or bring people over or anything like that, it’s just a reminder to Muslims that, ‘Hey, it’s time to pray,” he said.
