logo
New mosque officially opens in former Catholic Church as Eid celebrations begin

New mosque officially opens in former Catholic Church as Eid celebrations begin

CBC30-03-2025

For Muslims in Newfoundland and Labrador, Sunday represented both the end of Ramadan and a new beginning for the community.
When the community met for morning prayers in honour of Eid-al-fitr, they gathered in a new mosque located in the former Mary Queen of Peace Catholic Church on Torbay Road in St. John's.
With around 6,000 in attendance for a pair of prayer sessions, Muslim Association of Newfoundland and Labrador President Haseen Khan says the event is a big day for his community for several reasons.
"People are very happy, people are excited, people have sense of ownership, they have sense of joy that now they have a place where they can all pray as one group, as one community," said Khan.
After buying the church in December, the Association worked hard to renovate in time to have it open for Eid, one of the holiest times in the Muslim calendar.
"This is a big celebration for Muslims. This marks the completion of one month of fasting, one month of training. Training for God consciousness, training for self-discipline, self-restraint, caring and sharing and it is one of the five pillars of Islam," Khan said.
"We are celebrating Eid, but we are also celebrating praying of Eid for the first time in this new mosque," he said. "It's a very special day for Muslims in Newfoundland and Labrador. They are able to pray under one roof as one community. So it is exciting, it is reassuring and it is pleasing."
Khan said such a big crowd shows off the range of diversity within the Muslim community.
"At the same time it shows the unity of the faith," he said. "Spiritually we are all united, but we have our own cultural diversity, our own values. But again, we all believe in one God and we all believe in one kind of ritual, which is the fasting of one month and then celebrating the completion of that fasting through this prayer."
Others in attendance loved the way the new mosque united the community.
"It's really beautiful to see all these different people from all different walks of life coming to one place to worship God and practice their faith, and it just shows the acceptance and the love that we have here in Newfoundland," said Hady Ghoneim, one of the people present for the morning prayer.
"You feel safe, you feel the love … you feel really welcomed. The love and acceptance we have in this community is very awesome to see."
Ghoneim said it's nice that the former church still serves a similar purpose.
"It's still being used to worship God," Ghoneim said. "We're all the same. We're all one, just from one side to the other. I'm glad to see it."

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Islam growing, Christianity slipping as share of world population, survey finds
Islam growing, Christianity slipping as share of world population, survey finds

Vancouver Sun

time11 hours ago

  • Vancouver Sun

Islam growing, Christianity slipping as share of world population, survey finds

While Christians remained the world's largest religious group at the end of the decade that ended in 2020, Christianity's growth did not keep up with global population increase. But Islam – the world's fastest-growing major religion – increased its share of the world population, as did the religiously unaffiliated, the Pew Research Center found in a report released Monday. Even as the overall number of Christians – counted as one group, across denominations – continued to climb to 2.3 billion, the religion's share of the world's population decreased by 1.8 percentage points to 28.8 per cent, a falloff driven in large part by disaffiliation. The Muslim population, on the other hand, increased by 1.8 percentage points to 25.6 per cent, according to the report, which examined changes in religious demographics through an analysis of more than 2,700 censuses and surveys. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. 'It's just striking that there was such dramatic change in a 10-year period,' said Pew's Conrad Hackett, the lead author of the report. 'During this time, the Muslim and Christian populations grew closer in size. Muslims grew faster than any other major religion.' The report attributed the growth in Islam to a younger Muslim population – with an average age of about 24, as opposed to a global average age among non-Muslims of about 33 as of 2020 – along with higher fertility rates in some areas and lower rates of disaffiliation as compared with other religions, including Christianity. 'Among young adults, for every person around the world who becomes Christian, there are three people who are raised Christian who leave,' Hackett said. The largest share of Christians – about 31 per cent – can be found in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the study. Previously, Europe was home to the largest number of Christians in the world. 'And that's the result of high fertility, youthfulness and rapid growth in general of sub-Saharan Africa,' Hackett said, 'as well as the aging, lower fertility and disaffiliation going on in Europe.' Religion switching – seen in high numbers among Christians – contributed to the global rise of unaffiliated people, the report found. Nearly a quarter of the world's population did not identify with a religion in 2020 (24.2 per cent), as opposed to 23.3 per cent in 2010. Researchers previously predicted the unaffiliated population would shrink because of older age and fewer people having children, Hackett said. However, people leaving religion, and especially departing Christianity, has led to the increase of the population, Hackett said. The world's biggest unaffiliated population is estimated to be in China: 1.3 billion people, out of 1.4 billion, followed by the United States, with 101 million disaffiliated out of 331.5 million, and Japan, with 73 million out of 126.3 million. In China, it is common for people to have religious beliefs, but only 10 per cent of the population formally identify with a particular denomination or religion, the Pew Research Center reported in 2023. In a similar way, the new report measures the self-described affiliations of people around the world and may not capture the nuances and fullness of complex and evolving identities. Many people hold religious or spiritual beliefs or attend worship services but eschew formal labels. Another group that underwent significant a loss in population were Buddhists, the only religion that had fewer members in 2020 (324 million) than in 2010 (343 million); this was due to disaffiliation and a low birth rate. Those who identified as Hindu and Jewish maintained rates steady with the world's population, the report found. 'Sometimes we hear rumors of religious revival, and it's certainly possible that in particular places religion could grow,' Hackett said. 'But in this careful 10-year study that we've done, the broad trend is that in many places people are moving away from religion.' Based on patterns of religion switching and differences in age and fertility, Hackett estimated that the 'movement towards convergence' between Christians and Muslims will continue, with Islam set to grow to become the world's largest religion in years ahead, unless trend lines shift. 'The next step of our ongoing work in this project will be to do some demographic population projections to provide new estimates of sort of exactly when they might converge,' Hackett said. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here .

Islam growing, Christianity slipping as share of world population, survey finds
Islam growing, Christianity slipping as share of world population, survey finds

Edmonton Journal

time11 hours ago

  • Edmonton Journal

Islam growing, Christianity slipping as share of world population, survey finds

Article content While Christians remained the world's largest religious group at the end of the decade that ended in 2020, Christianity's growth did not keep up with global population increase. But Islam – the world's fastest-growing major religion – increased its share of the world population, as did the religiously unaffiliated, the Pew Research Center found in a report released Monday. Article content Even as the overall number of Christians – counted as one group, across denominations – continued to climb to 2.3 billion, the religion's share of the world's population decreased by 1.8 percentage points to 28.8 per cent, a falloff driven in large part by disaffiliation. The Muslim population, on the other hand, increased by 1.8 percentage points to 25.6 per cent, according to the report, which examined changes in religious demographics through an analysis of more than 2,700 censuses and surveys. 'It's just striking that there was such dramatic change in a 10-year period,' said Pew's Conrad Hackett, the lead author of the report. 'During this time, the Muslim and Christian populations grew closer in size. Muslims grew faster than any other major religion.' The report attributed the growth in Islam to a younger Muslim population – with an average age of about 24, as opposed to a global average age among non-Muslims of about 33 as of 2020 – along with higher fertility rates in some areas and lower rates of disaffiliation as compared with other religions, including Christianity. Article content 'Among young adults, for every person around the world who becomes Christian, there are three people who are raised Christian who leave,' Hackett said. The largest share of Christians – about 31 per cent – can be found in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the study. Previously, Europe was home to the largest number of Christians in the world. 'And that's the result of high fertility, youthfulness and rapid growth in general of sub-Saharan Africa,' Hackett said, 'as well as the aging, lower fertility and disaffiliation going on in Europe.' Religion switching – seen in high numbers among Christians – contributed to the global rise of unaffiliated people, the report found. Nearly a quarter of the world's population did not identify with a religion in 2020 (24.2 per cent), as opposed to 23.3 per cent in 2010. Researchers previously predicted the unaffiliated population would shrink because of older age and fewer people having children, Hackett said. However, people leaving religion, and especially departing Christianity, has led to the increase of the population, Hackett said. Article content The world's biggest unaffiliated population is estimated to be in China: 1.3 billion people, out of 1.4 billion, followed by the United States, with 101 million disaffiliated out of 331.5 million, and Japan, with 73 million out of 126.3 million. In China, it is common for people to have religious beliefs, but only 10 per cent of the population formally identify with a particular denomination or religion, the Pew Research Center reported in 2023. In a similar way, the new report measures the self-described affiliations of people around the world and may not capture the nuances and fullness of complex and evolving identities. Many people hold religious or spiritual beliefs or attend worship services but eschew formal labels. Another group that underwent significant a loss in population were Buddhists, the only religion that had fewer members in 2020 (324 million) than in 2010 (343 million); this was due to disaffiliation and a low birth rate. Those who identified as Hindu and Jewish maintained rates steady with the world's population, the report found. Latest National Stories

Saskatchewan celebrates Eid Al-Adha
Saskatchewan celebrates Eid Al-Adha

Global News

time4 days ago

  • Global News

Saskatchewan celebrates Eid Al-Adha

See more sharing options Send this page to someone via email Share this item on Twitter Share this item via WhatsApp Share this item on Facebook Eid Al-Adha is a annual celebration for Muslims around the world to remember a prophet's story from the Holy Book Quran on Friday. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Thousands of Muslims in Saskatchewan came out to listen to the morning Eid sermon which was followed by a short prayer. Muslims typically celebrate Eid by sharing food, donating to the less fortunate and spending time with family and friends. More details can be found in the video above.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store