Residents of Cold Lake filled the Energy Centre for a special event hosted by the Cold Lake Mosque Sunday afternoon. Attendees were given a chance to ask questions about being Muslim and Islam in general, while also hearing from prominent guest speakers.
It was just a month ago when the Cold Lake Mosque was vandalized overnight, left with broken windows and spray-painted with messages saying “go home” and “Canada”. Event organizer from the Cold Lake Mosque, Elias Mohamed, said the open forum was held to educate the public and act as a thank you to the community for the support that was shown after the incident.
“We got overwhelming support, it was a beautiful response. At the same time, if there's any suspicions or doubt about being Muslim that they have, we just want to clarify it and make it known to the public that we're open if they have any questions or concerns.”
In a speech to the audience, Cold Lake Mayor Craig Copeland recounted the day the Cold Lake Mosque was vandalized as being the worst and best day he's had as mayor.
“When I saw the graffiti, it was very upsetting and for me it was the worst experience in my time as mayor. By about 3 o'clock in the afternoon it was the best day for me as the mayor here in Cold Lake. I wasn't surprised that the citizens came to the mosque for support and to fix it up, that's what Cold Lake is all about.”
Guest speaker, Dr. Jamal Badawi, President of the Islamic Information Foundation in Canada, is an author, professor and speaker on Islam. Badawi spoke about a community's responsibility to protect the multicultural society within it. When he learned of Cold Lake's response to the vandalism, which garnered worldwide attention, Badawi said it gave him hope.
“I was elated. I was very impressed to see some good news that makes me optimistic about the future, instead of always bad news. This is the way neighbours should be, it reinforces my trust that there are still good, objective, decent people out there.”
Badawi said regardless of the religion, there are always a few deviant followers that exist amoung the worshipers of any faith. He believes better education and understanding between the Muslim and non-Muslim community would help prevent people from rushing to judgment and stereotyping the entire Muslim population.
“People are tempted to fall into that because they are influenced by the persistent depiction of Muslims based on certain acts. If the same acts were done by a non-Muslim, not as many people would pay attention to it. It's a certain legacy of misunderstanding that needs to be corrected.”
Cold Lake resident, Agnes Gendron, said the Muslim community is an important part of Cold Lake and she wants to show her support for their way of life.
“I think people deserve to practice whatever they want to. I know the Quran teaches to love everybody and that's the way it should be with the human race, love one another and to take care of each other and that's the same way it is with the aboriginal spirituality.”
A believer in God himself, resident Doug Parrish said everyone should take the time to understand others beliefs.
“God may be viewed by many people in a different way, but he's there and I think we should understand each others' approach to worshiping God. I came out to support the Islamic folks in town, there are a number of them and I've worked with quite a few.”
Mohamed said they are hoping this forum will be the first of many events, but if anyone ever has questions the mosque is open at any time.
“Next year we're hoping to expand this event into other churches and other denominations. It's a way that we can give back to the community.”
