Muslim call to prayer rings out in downtown Regina
· Toronto Sun
The Regina City Jamia Masjid in Regina broadcast its first live outdoor call to prayer on Friday afternoon.
The Adhan, or Islamic call to prayer, was delivered from the former building of the Canadian Cancer Society’s office, across the street from Regina’s city hall.
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“We believe that this will help us in Regina to be familiar and introduce the Regina City Jamia Masjid within the Muslim and the non-Muslim community because we are here at the heart of Regina downtown,” M Anisur Rahaman told CTV.
Muslim officials there say the call will last two to three minutes on Fridays before services at the mosque, which has a permit until the end of July to broadcast the calls and then a permit until the end of the year, which it will have to annually renew.
Growing Muslim population
Officials added that a childcare centre, Islamic school and masjid are in the works.
“We believe in multicultural diversity and we appreciate the Regina Police Service for giving us permission to test this call to prayer with the loudspeaker on the rooftop to give us that permission for one month to test, to see how it is going before they actually issue a permit for a longer period of time,” Rahaman said.
Saskatchewan’s Muslim population has been growing exponentially. In 2011, the province’s Muslim population stood at 10,040. StatsCan said that number grew to 25,455 by 2021, or 2.3% of the population, most of them living in Regina and Saskatoon.
Alberta, B.C., Ontario and Quebec are the only provinces where Muslims make up a greater number of the population.