In city built by Mennonites, growing Muslim community connects, finds support through weekly prayers
When Fezan┬аHasham┬аkneels┬аon a prayer mat in the gym of a local seniors’ centre and closes his eyes, the┬аnewcomer to Canada┬аfeels at peace.
“I come here, close my eyes, and I see children playing,” he recalls.
“I turn around,┬аI think my dad will be there. That’s how good it feels. It feels like I’m at home exactly.”
It’s a sentiment Hasham, who moved from Kenya two years ago, didn’t imagine┬аfeeling in Steinbach, Man., a small faith-based city of 18,000 people with more than 20 churches serving the community.
There was a belief among local Muslims there weren’t┬аenough of them in this fast-growing southeastern Manitoba city┬аto host regular prayers. They’d have to travel to┬аWinnipeg, about 50 km to the northwest, for the closest mosque.┬а
But in February, they set up their own prayers anyway┬атАФ and not only are people showing up,┬аthey’re┬аrenting┬аa┬аbigger room to accommodate everyone.┬а
Mosque fosters┬аbelonging┬а
“It feels really good,” Hasham marvelled after a recent prayer, the first Friday on┬аwhich they rented the gym of the Pat Porter Active Living Centre, rather than a room in the facility.
A pilot in training, he┬аthought of moving to Winnipeg to be closer to a place of worship. He doesn’t think about┬аthat anymore.
“Usually you feel lost when there’s no mosque┬аaround, but with the mosque┬аyou feel really good,” he said. “I hope it becomes a big thing.”
Serious discussions around starting prayers┬аbegan in 2019, but were derailed by the pandemic,┬аsaid┬аSaif Asi, 28, who moved to Steinbach┬аfive years ago as a Syrian refugee.
Asi organized the start of Friday prayers at the seniors’ centre. The Jumu’ah prayer,┬аthe┬аweekly sermon and congregational prayer every Friday afternoon,┬аis obligatory for all Muslim men to attend. Women and children are┬аwelcome to attend, but it’s not obligatory for them.
“The first time we did it, we saw so many new people. We didn’t know each other before,” Asi said.
Around 30 to 35 people attended┬аthe first two prayers. The third prayer was open┬аto women and children and more than┬а60 people showed up.
At the beginning, Fahim Din expected to see maybe┬а10 Muslims┬атАФ┬аthat’s┬аthe number of Muslims he knew in Steinbach, all of whom he met through soccer.
He used to travel to Winnipeg for┬аJumu’ah, but he could rarely make it. He worked full-time in accounting, and would need to take┬аthree hours off to attend the prayer and commute both ways.
“I’ve talked to Saif a couple of times and we have bounced around with an idea of [starting prayers], but there was not enough Muslims in the Steinbach community to actually have a thing,” he said.
“I’ve been coming for the┬аlast three weeks or so during my lunch hour. It┬аworks pretty well.”
Muaaz Jutt, who volunteers with the┬аManitoba Islamic Association,┬аcame in from Winnipeg to give the sermon and lead the prayer on a recent Friday.
In 2014, he travelled to Steinbach┬аdaily┬аfor work.┬аHe couldn’t always make it back to Winnipeg┬аin time for Jumu’ah.┬а
“It was a real struggle to find people in this town to┬аconnect with,” he told the congregation during his address.
One day, he happened to hear the Jumu’ah was being performed┬аin someone’s basement. He was welcomed with open arms.┬а
It made him think, even back then, that there could be more┬аMuslims in rural Manitoba than he realized. The 2021 census listed Muslim as the religion of 45 people in Steinbach.
The fact this┬аtraditionally Mennonite community now has weekly┬аMuslim prayers might be shaking perceptions of the┬аcity, said┬аEd Neufeld, a retired educator whose Mennonite church sponsored┬аthe Asi family’s arrival to Canada.
“In┬аSteinbach, we are diverse┬атАФ much more so┬аthan people like to think, and I think it’s amazing,” he said.
Asi’s arrival in Canada, and that of his parents and siblings the year before, were sponsored┬аby Neufeld’s church,┬аGrace Mennonite. The church was among many┬аgroups in Canada that acted to bring┬аSyrian refugees to the country after the unsettling photograph┬аof a drowned boy┬аcirculated around the world.┬а
The church’s efforts to resettle a Syrian family proved to be an example of Mennonites helping Muslims, and now one of those Muslims┬атАФ Saif Asi┬атАФ is bringing people of his faith tradition together.┬а
“We made a decision that we were choosing a Muslim family [to sponsor] and that┬аwe were going to learn together with them and respect them,” said Neufeld, who was a guest of the┬аfirst Jumu’ah┬аin Steinbach.
“We’ve had nothing but wonderfully respectful conversations with them.”
Asi┬аcommends the Mennonites┬аfor being a support.┬а
“Sometimes they help us, sometimes we help them,” he said. “I┬аthink that’s a very good thing and it’s a very nice place to live here with┬аthese kind people.”
His parents beam┬аas they speak of Saif living out their faith in their new home.
“When I have Saif, I pray for God,┬а‘Please, my God, I need this son for you,'” Faten Assi, his mother, said.
“My son, he is helping Muslims, helping Islam,” she added, her voice trailing off while┬аshe holds back┬аtears. “I am very excited, I feel like crying.”
“Alhamdulillah,” she adds, an Arabic phrase that means “praise be to God.”┬а
Audrey Harder, executive director of the Pat Porter Active Living Centre, said their facility has been thrilled to help the Muslim group find┬аthe space they need.
Harder knows their facility may not be big enough for long. The Muslims hope to operate┬аa mosque of their own one day.
“That would be great for them; they would be able to┬аdo what they need to do without us,” she said. “It’ll be fantastic when they get to that point.”
