After years of gathering in temporary spaces, Yellowknife’s Muslim community has finally found a home in the newly-constructed Islamic centre in Old Town, arriving just as the hilal became visible over the northern horizon.

Last Friday — the first Friday of Ramadan — the Islamic Centre of Yellowknife was brimming with pious worshippers, excited children, and relieved community members who said they at last had a place to gather.

“It’s a dream come true,” said Abdul Kareem Yalahow, one of the founding members for the mosque’s construction committee.

The opening of the Islamic centre marks a milestone for the nearly 600-strong Muslim community in Yellowknife, whose ranks include a diverse mix of people from across the world. The space has capacity for about 400 men and additional room for women, and means an end to years of worshipping in cramped quarters.

The Muslim community in Yellowknife has been without a mosque since 2019, when the previous one was demolished to make way for the new building.

The new facility was originally set to open in 2020, but construction was delayed until 2022, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and funding constraints. Construction was then paused during the 2023 wildfire evacuation. And this past spring, the mosque was delayed opening once again, due to a funding shortfall.

Yalahow said the wait for the space was a “painful six long years” that has been felt across generations.

Some of the people who were involved in the early details of the construction have since died, he said, while others have moved away.

And even after opening its doors, the Islamic centre is not completed yet, Yalahow said.

During the cold snap in the first week of February when temperatures plunged to below -40 C, some of the pipes froze and the mosque does not have a functioning kitchen.

The mosque is also continuing to raise money for its operations and needs $60, 000 to add carpets.

Still, it’s a place for Muslims to come together, which is important for the community, he said.

‘The living room of the house’

When Prophet Muhammad went from Mecca to Medina in western Saudi Arabia, one of the first things he did was build a mosque to bring the community together, Yalahow said.

“This is the living room of the house where everybody meets,” Yalahow said. “In Islam, masjid is the base. It’s where people meet, where they educate, where the kids read, where the congregation of the prayers happen. So this is the most comfortable place for the Muslims.”

This year Ramadan began on the evening of Feb. 17, and Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan, is expected to be celebrated on March 20, depending on the sighting of the new moon.

During Ramadan, the faithful begin fasting from just before sunrise prayer, Fajr, until the sunset prayer, Maghrib. Fasting is one of the five pillars of Islam, with the others being declaration of faith, performing five prayers, giving a portion of one’s income to charity and Hajj, which is a pilgrimage to Mecca.

A place to worship and to socialize

Fifteen-year-old Adib Yasir said Ramadan gives people a chance to put themselves in the “shoes of the less fortunate by fasting.”

“You get to experience what the other side of life is because we’re fortunate to have food, water, but now we experience what they do,” he said.

Having a mosque where he can congregate, share his thoughts and experiences especially during Ramadan is “really nice,” Yasir said.

Before the mosque was completed, Yellowknife’s Muslim community had to resort to praying in makeshift spaces, Yasir said.

“There wasn’t enough space for many people and we prayed in, like, a storage closet. It’s a lot better because we have an official place.”

However, as women and men pray separately, those spaces were reserved for men, and for the past six years, women did not have a place to gather for prayer with others in the community.

Khadijat Niniola says she has not had access to a place for a communal prayer since she moved to Yellowknife from Vancouver a few years ago.

“Usually, all the Muslims that I know are just Muslims from my country, but coming [to the new mosque] I’ve had the opportunity to meet other non-Nigerian Muslims and that’s the most exciting part,” she said. “Because Islam is about community, oneness.”

Yaqub Adepoju, a geological scientist, said he’s been in Yellowknife for about five years and the mosque is his “first home” when he gets back from work.

He described the mosque as the “heart” of the congregation.

“We come here. From here, we go home. We wake up in the morning, and we return back to this place — pretty much like a community centre for the Muslims,” he said.

Beyond physical walls, Adepoju added, the Islamic centre is a shelter from Yellowknife’s cold, offering warmth and comfort.

“That encourages them to come, to congregate and to socialize and to worship.”