A mosque in Toronto has welcomed Muslims and non-Muslims "of all genders, sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, classes, colours and disabilities" to its annual 'Peace Iftar'. Iftar is when Muslims break their fast in the evening during the holy month of Ramadan.
On Friday , Masjid el-Tawhid or Unity Mosque, opened its doors for people from all faiths to attend its annual event. The mosque's Facebook invite mentioned that it was 'a community and bridge-building event', one that brought together people regardless of their religion. It added that the mosque was a 'gender-equal, queer-affirming, and child-friendly space'.
Human rights lawyer El-Farouk Khaki and his partner Troy Jackson, founded Toronto Unity Mosque along with Laurie Silvers in 2009.
“The Peace Iftar is something we have been doing since 2003, I was inspired to create this event after being invited to a Passover Seder by a lesbian Jewish couple," El-Farouk Khaki, event organizer and founder of the mosque told ABC News.
He added that the around 200 people turned up for the event, one third of them being non-Muslims.
"There's a notion, I think, out there that Muslim spaces are not welcoming, that they're not inclusive, that they don't embrace non-Muslims, or that women or LGBTQI people are somehow not welcome," El-Farouk Khaki was quoted as telling CBC's Matt Galloway on Metro Morning. "And so this is an intentional space designed to actually bring everybody into it."
On the June 13 mass shooting in Orlando, Khaki expressed his concern and said that the incident had raised fear of a backlash among the Muslims. He told CBC: "LGBT Muslims walk this line between two communities, that are ironically almost equally stigmatized and marginalized in many places."
He hopes that his mosque can create a place for people from various backgrounds and has also urged the members of his community to remain united.
Khaki said there would be a special prayer this Friday for the victims of the Orlando shooting. "Maybe the way forward from here is to come together," he said.
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