Hamilton Downtown Mosque opens its doors to the community

The Hamilton Downtown Mosque opened its doors to the community Saturday as a way for people to learn about the Islamic faith through history, prayer, and food.

The event is done every year and features conversations with the Hamilton Muslim community and a tour of the mosque.

“We are a big part of the Hamilton community so people should know about us, know that we’re here, know who we are, what we stand for, and what we believe,” Samantha Alexander said.

“I feel like it’s really wholesome seeing new people come. It makes a lot of Muslims happy to see more people coming into their religion,” Aya Adam said.

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One of the activities featured at the mosque includes letting women try on a hijab.

Darsalam Haggar said the hijab represents modesty, not just by covering your face but by being modest in how you act as well.

“People say that it’s oppression and that it’s covering the beauty. But in my perspective, I think it’s more framing the beauty of the woman because women are gems in Islam and we think they are very beautiful and we need to frame that,” Haggar said.

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Imam Kamal Gurgi said this event is an important way to strengthen the relationship between different faiths.

“It also eliminates misconceptions that are going around. If you want to learn about Islam, better to learn about it from us as a source rather than hearing it from somebody else,” Gurgi said.

He hopes people will take away an understanding of religion, traditions, culture, and history.

“I hope also that churches, synagogues, and other places of worship will do the same so that we can get to know each other’s faiths.”