Mosque’s open house welcomes neighbours ‘in harmony’
The Baitul Ehsan Mosque opened its doors to the neighbourhood Saturday afternoon, offering tours of the mosque and answering questions about Islam.
“We want to show the community around us, our neighbours what we have changed, what we have done,” said Tariq Haider, who does general affairs for the mosque.
The former St. Andrew’s elementary school at 1957 Head Avenue was purchased by Windsor’s Ahmadiyya Muslims more than 10 years ago and now serves as their prayer and community centre.
There has been continuous work done to the building in that time. As the renovations continue, the Meet Your Muslim Neighbours open house invited people to see what’s changed in the space — and learn more about the neighbours.
“Our main preachings are love for all, hatred for none,” Haider said. “So we believe in harmony, peace, love and we want to mingle with the community. We want to show them we are the same people.”
Nearby resident Tim Sellan has a special connection to the building, his father was the architect for the school and he also attended St. Andrew’s when he was young.
“I’ve looked through and some very impressive changes and more to come,” he said.
“I think when they’re all done you won’t recognize it.”
He said walking into the old school was like “stepping back in time” and praised the open house for its steps in bridging connections.
“This is excellent — we really need to build a more common understanding of peoples from an Islamic background because there’s a lot of misinformation,” he said.
“I certainly encourage their community activities, it’s just excellent. Open-house events like this are a very good first step.”
The open house had a large grill out front serving up spiced chicken with peppers and onions, along with refreshments, free books on Islam and a short documentary on an introduction of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community.
Mabel Lockheart has been living in the neighbourhood for more than 40 years and said she’s been to a few open houses and has been watching the renovation progress.
“By nature, we wanted to see if it’s as nice inside and it’s even nicer than we anticipated,” she said.
“I think it’s a good way for other people who haven’t been seeing everything we see to get a look at what’s going on, and it eliminates rumours."
Haider said the mosque’s doors are always open.
“Today we call it an open house, but it’s open house every day, pretty much.”
This is excellent — we really need to build a more common understanding of peoples from an Islamic background because there’s a lot of misinformation.