Muslims in Brockville, Ontario, appear to be one step away from obtaining a designated prayer place officially recognized by the city council.

For his part, Ahmed Khadra, an electronics store owner and imam in the area, said: “Having a dedicated place for worship is really important.”

Khadra and other local Muslims have been using the recently purchased Park Street building for congregational prayers, but the municipality still needs to amend the zoning bylaw to officially declare it a place of worship.

This plan faced no objections last week at the Brockville City Council’s Planning and Development Committee, although a neighboring business expressed concerns about parking.

Khadra also said the local YMCA, located across the street, offered 10 parking spaces. A final zoning decision from the city council is still needed, and Khadra hopes to get all approvals in November.

Prayer under the stairs:

The road to establishing the Islamic Center in Brockville was not always easy. When Khadra emigrated to Canada from Syria in 1994 and moved to Brockville to open an electronics store in 1998, there were only two Muslim families in the community. Khadra explained that the number of Muslims in the community is now only 12, but since Brockville is a hub for travelers on Highway 401, every Friday between 10 to 20 other people come for prayer.

Before securing the Park Street building – a former salon north of downtown Brockville – Khadra and his community colleagues met over the years in various places, such as his shop, a company owned by a friend, basements, and sometimes also under the emergency stairs.

Also in recent years, Wall Street United Church in Brockville hosted the group, at the invitation of Minister Kimberly Heath.

Khadra said: “The minister took me on a tour inside the entire church and said: choose a room.”

Writing Brockville’s history:

Heath said the church’s relationship with the Islamic community grew from her experience helping sponsor Syrian refugees.

Heath added: “Muslims were already in Brockville, but we decided to bring in more – and then they had no place to hold prayer, so we opened our doors.”

Khadra also explained that the Islamic Center in Brockville is not ornate, just a floor covered with carpet, four walls, a ceiling, and windows on the sides, and that this place is very significant, saying: “We are writing Brockville’s history at this moment.”