Turning hate message into a chance to teach
Guelph Muslim Society holds open house after vandals deface mosque
GUELPH — When vandals painted hateful messages on the side of their mosque last month, the Muslim Society of Guelph saw it as an opportunity to reach out to the community, society president Muhammed Sayyed said during a community open house Saturday.
More than 300 people attended the open house to show their support for the Muslim society and learn more about Islam.
“We think the best way to educate people is open our doors … and I can tell you this invitation is not only for today,” Sayyed told guests in the large prayer hall of the mosque on Water Street. “Come in any time.” Sometime overnight between March 5 and 6, vandals defaced the building with hateful messages.
Sayyed said his members were buoyed by the wave of supportive messages, not only from politicians and other community leaders, but from regular citizens troubled by the vandals’ actions.
Mayor Karen Farbridge said these actions “do not represent who we are as a nation or who we are as a community,” adding she is proud of how the community condemned them.
“We are all neighbours, whether we are Muslims or immigrants or people of any status,” she said. “Let’s keep doing what we’re doing and speak out against hateful messages. Guelph belongs to all of us.”
MPP Liz Sandals agreed it is important in the face of such actions “that the community rise up and say, ‘No, hate is not acceptable.’ ”
MP Frank Valeriote said as he has learned more about the Muslim faith he is struck by how similar it is to other faiths, with emphasis on peace, forgiveness and love of one another.
“We have so much in common but we forget that all the time,” he said. “We focus on our differences.”
“We stand beside you,” Valeriote said. “You do not suffer this alone.”
Sheikh Abdur Raouf Kabbar, imam of the Islamic Centre of Cambridge, said every religion has a small number of members who harbour hateful thoughts, and conceded Muslims are no different.
He noted reports last week about young London, Ont., Muslims who participated in a terrorist attack on an Algerian gas plant. “I can say as a Muslim, as an imam, I condemn my Muslim brother if he is wrong,” he said.
Brad Labadie of Guelph was among the many visitors checking out the mosque. He said he was angry and disturbed by the reports of graffiti on the building.
“Graffiti of any kind, when it’s negative, doesn’t reflect who we are as a society and a city,” said Labadie, who works with the Guelph Immigration Partnership and Guelph-Wellington Inclusiveness Alliance.
“It was important for me to come and understand what this faith is all about.”
Few in attendance Saturday are as familiar with the mosque building as Bob Moore, principal of the Guelph Community Christian School, which was located in the Water Street building until it sold the property to the Muslim society last summer.
“It was just very disappointing,” he said about the graffiti, adding he was impressed the Muslim society turned such a negative experience into a positive community education event.
Sayyed said the response to the open house was “overwhelming.”
“We’re treating this as a celebration to show people who we are and what we’re doing here,” he said.
“We hope everyone here goes and tells 10 more people across the dinner table or in the coffee shop.”
Guelph Police Chief Bryan Larkin said the investigation into the graffiti is ongoing, commending the Muslim society for focusing on education over the desire for punishment.
“Let’s continue to send a message that hate is not welcome in the city of Guelph, the province of Ontario or our great nation,” he said.