SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
It's just before 1 p.m. on a Friday afternoon when a handful of taxis roll up to a modest white building at the bottom of Franklin Avenue.

Islamic Centre of Yellowknife member Karem Yalahow, left, and president Nazim Awan are both looking forward to the day when Yellowknife can finally build a new mosque. - Cody Punter/NNSL photo

Inside, a piercing Arabic voice floats melodically through a narrow room as a dozen men sit barefoot on a carpeted floor - some kneeling, others cross-legged - flanked by a bright red tapestry of Mecca, which hangs illuminated by a blast of sunlight on the otherwise barren walls.

Men continue to filter in, occasionally dropping $20 bills into a plastic container at the entrance to the room until more than 60 faithful are crammed shoulder-to-shoulder, with a handful of stragglers left to pray before a set of crackling speakers in the foyer.

As the Muslim call-to-prayer comes to a close a young man with a light dusting of facial hair steps up to the microphone at the front of the room and starts reading from a prepared sermon in English.

The topic of the day's sermon is forgiveness - fitting, given that it was just under a year ago that the society's Imam was sentenced to 33 months in prison for stealing more than $117,000 worth of donations which was being set aside for the building of a new mosque.

The theft came as a shock to the community and there is a lingering feeling of betrayal at the hands of one of their own among some of the Islamic Centre of Yellowknife's membership. However, rather than dwell on the past, the centre's president, Nazim Awan, says it is moving on and redoubling its efforts to raise money for a new place of worship.

"It was a very depressing and shocking event," said Awan, who is originally from Pakistan but moved to Yellowknife in 2003. "But that has been dealt with by law and taken through the court system."

"After that event we focused on ... how we can get together to work on our goal to build the (new) Islamic centre."

Known as a majid in Arabic, the mosque plays a central role in the everyday life of Muslims, whose faith dictates that they pray five times a day on top of attending a communal service every Friday - the Islamic holy day.

"When you are hungry you need to eat to keep alive. The prayer you need to keep your soul alive," said Mamar Hamada, a relatively new member of the city's Islamic community, after the service. He and his brother recently moved from Algeria to Yellowknife to study business administration at Aurora College.

Although Muslim women traditionally pray at home, Awan says they are encouraged to attend the mosque on Fridays and during the two major celebrations of Eid-al-Fitr and Eid-al-Adha.

"It's not just a place of worship, it's also a place for people to come and learn," explained Ahmed Kafafi, who led Friday's sermon as the Imam - a duty carried out by one of four volunteers on a rotating basis. "It serves several functions. That's why it's so crucial to Muslims."

Up until 15 years ago Yellowknife's Muslims depended on a meeting room at the library to congregate on Fridays. Yousry Abdelmegid, who came to Yellowknife in 1997 and is now the vice-president of the Islamic Centre, said there were only about 20 Muslims in town when he arrived, most of whom were single young men.

Because his name is the first in Yellowknife's phonebook to begin with the common Arab prefix "Abd," Abdelmegid said Muslims from all over the world would often call him to ask if there was a mosque in town. When he informed them there wasn't, Abdelmegid said most people were ultimately discouraged from making the trek to Yellowknife.

That all changed in the summer of 2000 when the nascent Islamic organization pooled together enough money to convert a rundown daycare centre on Franklin Avenue into a makeshift mosque.

"It was amazing to have a place to call our own," remembers Karem Yalahow, a taxi driver originally from Somalia who came to Yellowknife by way of Inuvik and Toronto in 1997.

According to Abdelmegid, once the Islamic centre opened its doors there was a sudden influx of Muslims to the Yellowknife. But whereas most of the city's Islamic community previously consisted of bachelors that came to Canada to make money for a few years before returning home, now it was families that were showing up with the intention of laying down roots here.

Today Abdelmegid reckons there are approximately 500 Muslim men, women and children living in Yellowknife originating from as far away as Europe, Egypt, Pakistan, Somalia, Algeria, Mauritius, Armenia, Bangladesh, Sudan and even Canada.

"I'll tell you why," says Abdelmegid in response to a question about what attracts Muslims to the territory's capital. "First, there's the opportunities in Yellowknife and the second reason is this place here even in this situation and in this condition."

Aside from the fact that the rickety daycare is showing signs of wear and tear - the most obvious example being the fact that the prayer room lists to one side due to slipping foundations - the reality is that the building is no longer big enough to meet the needs of the city's growing Islamic population.

Although members were reluctant to replenish the centre's coffers at first, Awan said it has gradually been regaining the trust of its faithful in its quest to build a new mosque.

Part of that can be attributed to new bylaws and measures surrounding the handling of money, which were implemented to prevent any one person from having control over the centre's funds, Awan said. Since those changes were brought in, more than $100,000 has been donated to the cause. During the last Ramadan alone, the Islamic Centre raised a total of $50,000 among its members.

In addition to the donations from the Islamic community, Awan said several non-Muslim colleagues reached out to offer financial support to the centre after hearing about the theft.

"Nobody expects that," said Awan, "We will not ask anybody but if other people want to donate they are welcome."

Then, just a few months ago the Islamic Centre got another boost when it signed an agreement with Zubaidah Tallab Foundation, a Winnipeg-based Islamic charity, which helped fund Inuvik's mosque. According to Awan, the foundation will help provide a large part of the financing required to build a new mosque in Yellowknife, which as of yet does not have a location. If all goes according to plan Awan reckons work on a new building could begin as early as next year.

As they look forward to a day when they can worship at a building more befitting of their faith, the Islamic Centre's has made a conscious effort to engage with the community. Last fall its members pitched in to buy 250 pounds of fresh meat for the Yellowknife Food Bank as part of the Muslim religious festival Eid al-Adha. Beginning this Sunday afternoon the centre is planning to offer the first in a series of monthly information sessions about Islam at the lower level in the Centre Square Mall. According to Awan, the intent of the sessions is to answer any questions non-Muslims may have about the local community or the religion in general.

Although they were organized well ahead of the recent attacks on Charlie Hebdo in Paris, members of the local Islamic community are well aware that questions about Islamic extremism and fundamentalism are bound to creep into everyday conversations.

"It's an issue going around right now," said Yalahow.

As someone who married a non-Muslim, Yalahow says he is used to being asked incredibly insensitive and "ridiculous" questions about Islam, even by his own family. He remembers one incident in particular when a colleague at the Ekati diamond mine saw him praying in the wake of Sept. 11, before proceeding to ask Yalahow "why do you guys have to bomb everyone?"

Yalahow says he responded by saying he was no more responsible for those attacks than Christians are for the Holocaust. He also pointed out that, like many immigrants coming from war-torn countries, the reason he left Somalia for Canada in the first place is because his friends and family were being murdered at the hands of the Islamic militant group, Al-Shabaab.

"When people are talking about (extremists) they are the people who chased us from home," he said.

While it is upsetting when people make disparaging comments about Islam or mock one of its prophets, Yalahow says the only way to combat their ignorance is through education.

"You have to educate those people," he said "All they need is a good education."

Rather than dwelling on the negative image of Islam which is often perpetuated in the media, Awan would rather focus on the true tenets of Islam, which teach peace and tolerance. Reflecting on the local community he is quick to point out Yellowknife's Muslims are diverse group which includes parents, students, business owners, cab drivers, office workers, engineers, doctors and public servants.

"Muslims in Yellowknife, and all over the world, are community members just like other people," he said, adding that faith helps make people better citizens.

"In Yellowknife when you see model citizens, Muslims will be among them."

Although it may be a few years before new mosque is finally built, Awan says the local Islamic population and their role in the community will only continue to grow with time.

"We want to be productive and a positive contributor to this community and a part of society," he said.

"We are here, we are not going away."

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