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AbuUkkasha |
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AbuUkkasha Toronto, ON |
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No bio submitted. Member since May 5, 2012
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| Noor Cultural Centre: NR I would like the Muslim community to know that the Founder, President, and Vice President of the Noor Cultural Centre are all dedicated Nizari Ismailis who are led by the Aga Khan (a French secularist and billionaire businessman). A number of arguably un-Islamic practices go on inside the Centre that mainstream Muslims would take issue with, such as men and women physically touching each other and women often not dressing modestly and often not wearing the hijab. In addition, this Centre frequently invites gays, lesbians, and other non-heterosexuals to partake in various activities. In fact, the Centre has become a hub for non-heterosexual individuals as well as a forum for a Feminist understanding of Islam. This center in the past has had a woman serve as the Imam instead of a man, for instance.
Many mainstream Muslims would find this place very unusual and Islamically unacceptable if they went inside it. I feel that traditional Muslims should be alerted to this information. I hope this message will get posted and not filtered like my prior message on this Centre. (Submitted on June 5, 2012) |
| The Qur'an & Sunnah Society of Canada: ★★★★ This masjid is in a spacious basement of a plaza. It is quite clean, but, could arguably be kept cleaner than it is. It has a women's location, although no separate entrance for women from the outside as far as I'm aware (note that I'm not a female). Parking is sometimes difficult to find in the plaza, so, you may need to park on the side street if attending (where there is usually ample parking available, if you're willing to walk a bit).
The best thing about this masjid is that the khutbas are eloquently delivered both in English and Arabic. Every time I go to this masjid for Jum'ah prayers, I learn something new about Islam that I didn't know before, thanks to the wonderful khutbas that are delivered. It is difficult not to pay attention to the khutbas thanks to the quality khateebs that speak at this masjid. Constant reference to Qur'anic Ayahs and authentic hadiths (with references!) are made in the khutbas, which is wonderful. I urge other masjids to consider learning from this masjid on how to better deliver khutbas that are very useful and practicable for the local Muslim community, so that Muslims can get more from their Jum'ah experiences.
Due primarily to the high quality khutbas that are delivered in English, I frequently attend this masjid on Fridays. (Submitted on June 5, 2012) |
| Jame Abu Bakr Siddique: ★★★ This is aesthetically a very pleasant masjid (one of the nicest in Toronto), and is kept very clean. There are a lot of facilities offered and the masjid has a lot of resources at its disposal. I cannot speak much about how the masjid is administered, although I do know it frequently solicits worshipers for donations - perhaps due to the high monthly maintenance costs associated with the masjid.
Two criticisms I have of this masjid, unfortunately:
-Urdu is spoken very frequently in Friday khutbas as well as in other communications (second to Arabic), as opposed to the English language that is predominantly spoken amongst the local citizenry. I have no problem with my Pakistani Muslim brothers and sisters or the Urdu language. However, here in Canada, most of the Muslims and all of the youth best speak and understand English. Outside of Arabic, no foreign language has a place in a masjid that is supposed to represent a vast Canadian Muslim community, in my humble opinion. By often delivering khutbahs and other communications in Urdu as opposed to the English language, this masjid does a disservice to the many Muslims (of various nationalities throughout the world) who come through its doors each week seeking to come closer to Allah and to learn more about how to practice their Deen better.
-The parking lot for this masjid is huge, but, it's never enough on Fridays. There are simply far more cars that need a parking spot than there are parking spots available. Fortunately, there is some street parking nearby, but, I'm disappointed that so much money was spent on this masjid and not even adequate parking on Fridays is available. (Submitted on June 5, 2012) |
| The Islamic Society of Kingston: ★★★★★ I grew up in this masjid, although I no longer live in Kingston. It's very friendly and welcoming, and has always tried its best to adhere to Islamic principles while being as accommodating as possible to all of those who come through its doors. The masjid recently hired a young Imam by the name of Sikander Hashmi, who I think is a great fit for this masjid, and embodies what the identity of a Canadian Muslim should be, in my opinion.
The fact that there is only one masjid in Kingston tells you what a good job this masjid has done of bringing together Muslims from different walks of life, as well as from different interpretations. I think this masjid can serve as a model for many other masjids in Canada, especially as it has done a good job of keeping positive relations with non-Muslims in the area. The masjid has plenty of parking, a large women's space, and many activities each week, and is democratically governed. (Submitted on June 5, 2012) |
AbuUkkasha has written 5 reviews. |
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