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For the sake of his faith, Dylan is trying to overcome his anxiety about going to the mosque. If he didn’t, says the Muslim revert, then “that terrorist would win.”
“But now, when people are late for prayers, you hear the door open and someone is coming in fast and it is extremely nerve-wracking,” he says. “You can’t help but think who it is, and you’re hoping that nothing bad will happen.”
After the Quebec mosque shooting two weeks ago, some local Muslims are struggling with going to Halifax-area mosques out of fear and anxiety. Dylan, Lama and Sara are three people dealing with those fears. The Coast isn’t using their real names, to prevent themselves and their families from being the targets of Islamophobia.
“To be honest, after the shooting, I felt like this is going to happen here,” says Sara. The student and mother of three has a history of volunteering at different mosques, but says right now she won’t be sending her kids to attend any mosque events or prayers.
“I left my country, family and friends so that I don’t have to come here and fear going to the mosque. I wanted to be free.”
Sara and her family immigrated to Canada in the early 2000s in the hopes of securing a better future for her kids, especially for her son who has a Muslim name. “I don’t like what’s happing to Muslims in terms of discrimination and violence,” she says. “So I want to change my son’s name.
“I brought him here and he’s never going to go back to any Arab country, so I don’t want him to feel left out from a job or an opportunity just because of the name he has.”
Even with the current climate, Sara says that Islamophobia isn’t so bad in Halifax compared to other cities she has visited, such as Montreal or Vancouver. “It gets less friendly as you go outside of Nova Scotia.”
Lama, a university student who was born and raised in Halifax, says she loves the friendliness that’s felt in the city, but is still afraid of going to the mosque after what happened in Quebec.
“It just makes you feel more hopeless and scared,” says Lama, who was born to a religious family that regularly attends prayers and events at the mosque.
“This fear is experienced by a lot of people, but not many want to voice it because we are told to just trust in god,” she says. “But we have to realize that the anxiety and fear of going to the mosque is a reality that needs to be talked about.”
Last weekend, Dylan was one of hundreds who attended a public event at the Ummah Masjid, where Muslims and non-Muslims gathered to join together and ask questions.
“Having that dialogue with non-Muslims and other members of the community was long overdue,” says Dylan. “It’s just now that I feel the community is embracing us and the religion.”
Lama and Sara also believe more events like this past weekend’s are needed.
“I think our Muslim community need to approach the outside community even more and be more engaged,” Lama says. “We need to host more events that are open to the public.”
“We need to speak out because if we repress our true feelings, then the misunderstandings or violence will accelerate,” says Sara.
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This article appears in Feb 9-15, 2017.
What was that meme that was so popular a couple of years back?
Something about being more likely to be killed by a moose than by a terrorist, in Canada.
And, what precisely is a “muslim revert”. Did “Dylan” leave the faith and then come back?
Was his apostasy forgiven?
I’m not trolling and I’m not trying to belittle the horrific events in Quebec City. I was just as angry at 6 Canadian citizens being murdered by a terrorist, as I was when Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent and Corporal Nathan Cirillo were murdered. All these men deserved long and happy lives, instead of being murdered by pathetic individuals with mental problems grafted on to twisted ideologies.
But, in this country, critical thinking and perspective need to apply to all, or they function for none.
@Buster.Kilrain In Islam it is believed that you are born in to the world as a muslim, it does not neccesarily mean you end up following the belief in Islam as you grow.To come to follow and believe in Islam at a point later on in life is known to ‘revert’ back to Islam as opposed to convert to Islam. Greetings of the day to you my friend :).
Ridiculous!!! Radical wingnuts that fly the Muslim flag have the entire world on edge, and society still puts on it’s big boy pants and goes about its business. I agree with BK, you would have a better chance of being sucked into a Sharknado, then shit into a bowl of Trump’s ice cream than being shot in a mosque in Halifax. This manic bullshit just has to stop!!!
What can us non-muslims do help ensure the peace of mind of the peaceful muslims in Halifax? Nobody should fear going to their place of worship.
@ Raja Tahseen Ali. Thank you very much for the explanation. And good morning to you.
While I understand how that concept can make sense to a follower of Islam, I admit to being confused as to why the author of this piece would use the word, since it does seem to validate the colonial, conversionist, supremacist aspect of the faith, which has done so much to blacken it’s reputation in the modern world.
You cannot give in to your oppressors. Stopping what you do or not being who you are for fear of being attacked only allows them to win. Stand tall and proud. Go to Mosque. Wear your hijab. Be who you are and do not allow anyone to say you are wrong or bad or otherwise.
As an older gay man, in my younger years I was attacked, left bloody and beaten; I was robbed; I was verbally berated. I did not change who I was. I didn’t stop going to the bars. I will not stand for someone saying I am wrong, or bad or otherwise.
I survived. So shall you.