This mosque is one of the most well-known in Toronto. It's easily accessible from the subway. It is a strongly Pakistani mosque. The women pray in the basement. The space is accessible from a back door. The women's entrance was not obvious - I had to ask a little girl. I have no idea what the men's space looks like. There is no shelving for women's shoes so they end up clogging the stairs. I had the misfortune of needing to do wudu there before prayer. The women's bathrooms (also in the basement) were atrocious, small and dirty. Toilet is really the word to use for them. The sisters who attend jumua are almost all South Asian and it seems mostly Pakistani. It seemed as if most of the sisters did not speak English and as a non-South Asian I was not welcomed - not even a salaam from anyone. I felt very excluded simply because I was not of their ethnicity. As the space is in the basement there is no chance of seeing the imam or khateeb or of hearing them directly and the space is dingy - like what it is, a basement room. The khutba was less than inspired and didn't address any of the issues that Muslims are actually dealing with - was just very traditional about some point of fiqh. I would not go here again unless I found myself in the area at prayer time and had nowhere else to go. The brothers' experience might be very different.

ruhafsa

2005-06-14