Gesture of compassion gives rise to hate.

In Mississauga, which has long been ground zero for Islamophobia in Canada, people have gone apoplectic with the news that the city has temporarily — for the duration of Ramadan — lifted a noise bylaw to allow mosques to broadcast their sunset prayers on loudspeakers.

The idea that Muslims, who comprise about 12 per cent of Mississauga’s population, could be shown the slightest bit of compassion during the first global catastrophic pandemic in a century is too much to swallow for some.

They see it as “preferential treatment” of a dangerous group of people and warn of impending doom as unsuspecting Canada slips down the slippery slope of Islamization and falls victim to an inevitable takeover.

Mississauga city councillors have felt the ire and pressure of their citizens since April 29 when they passed the motion, and they devoted two hours Wednesday to discussing the decision. In the end, they did not rescind it.

A closed Facebook group named “Mississauga Call to Prayer on LoudSpeaker Unconstitutional,” that quickly swelled to 6,000 members, offers a glimpse of that anger. “We’re not against any religion, we’re just against the noise,” is the overriding mantra of the founders who live in a city with neighbourhoods around Canada’s busiest airport.

Although South Asians (Hindus and Christians) dominate the group, it is a fertile meeting ground for Islamophobes of all stripes.

In recent years, the fear of “a Muslim takeover,” with the forever looming spectre of Shariah, has made strange bedfellows out of Hindus with a historical grievance against Muslims (fuelled by the brazen Hindu supremacist ideology in India) and white supremacists who spew nonsensical rhetoric of white genocide at the hands of the other — with Muslims being at the top of that pile of “other.”

In 2017, both groups turned the Peel District School Board into a flashpoint on the issue of religious accommodations in schools that allowed Muslim students to pray, even though they had been in place for 15 years.

People yelled and screamed and tore pages of the Qur’an to make their point.

The Facebook group over the mosque prayer issue is fundraising — at $45 a head — to fight the decision in court because, naturally, this is the most pressing issue of our time.

For a group whose founders insist is not Islamophobic, a quick dip into the comments is equivalent to being doused in a bucket of vitriol. The comments range from anti-Muslim hate to equal opportunity racism to far-right talking points against the prime minister. Other comments make such far reaches as to step beyond logical reasoning.

“Wake up before it’s too late.” “Is Canada a Muslim country with Chinese as its main language?” “Trudeau is one of their culture with his diversity comments all the time.” “Canada is slowly heading towards radicalism. Trust me. This is how it starts.”

“There is a real estate angle to this,” writes another bright spark. Once it becomes a permanent feature, he says, “nonMuslims will not want to stay there,” which is “an opportunity to buy at below-market prices.”

Then there was a petition floating around with thousands of signatures that included a claim that the azaan, or call to prayer, would trigger PTSD in soldiers who served in the Middle East. (It has since been taken down by change.org)

There was the man, a Caledon school council chair no less, who thought it was OK to tweet this in response to Brampton easing the same restrictions:

“What’s next?” said Ravi Hooda. “Separate lanes for camels and goat riders, allowing slaughter of animals at homes in name of sacrifice, Bylaw requiring all women to cover themselves from head to toe in tents to appease the piece (sic) fools for votes.” He has since taken down the tweet but lost his job with Re/Max. He told the CBC the tweet was misinterpreted.

It’s tempting to dismiss these people as fools and asses but look where that got us with Donald Trump. Their numbers are high enough to put majoritarian pressure on elected public officials.

They’re making it about noise, about technicalities of not following due process to lift bylaws, about trauma, about equality, about secularism.

It’s about all these issues that go unnoticed when it comes to other religions. Churches across the country ring their bells on Sundays. And churches across Montreal rang their bells for 10 minutes every Sunday for three weeks until Easter as a gesture of solace during Lent. The azan is a five-minute call.

It’s worth remembering that Mississauga is hardly unique in its temporary easing of restrictions around the broadcasting of the azan. It joins jurisdictions including Brampton, Milton, Markham, Ajax, Toronto, Ottawa, Halifax, Edmonton, Italy, Netherlands and Australia.

The Inter-Faith Council of Peel sent a letter of support to Mississauga council that was read during Wednesday’s meeting.

“Rather than thinking of this simple action as divisive or favouring one group over another, may it be a reminder that members of our community are deeply missing each other,” it said. “May this call be a reminder to take just a few moments to think of those who cannot gather, celebrating families and grieving families, friends and social groups, even sports teams and faith communities.”

Then there’s the matter of implementation. It’s not as if all mosques have loudspeakers. It’s not as if all Muslims will hear the call. It’s not as if those who do hear it will leave their homes and pour out onto the streets. It’s not even a priority issue for Muslims.

It was simply a suggestion by the Muslim Council of Peel and a small gesture of compassion by council in a time of a pandemic, but also, in the broader context, a time of extraordinary persecution of Muslims around the world.

It is a non-issue, which but for the haters, would have and should have remained as such.