The new masjid:
(Photo credit to the CBC)
The old masjid, which was extremely small.
(Photo credit also to the CBC)
I was surprised to learn that there are nearly a hundred Muslims in Inuvik, a town of only 3,200. From the CBC News website:
"It's a beautiful building. Everyone's happy to have this small little home for meeting and for prayer, and for the children to be playing in," resident Amir Suliman told CBC News when the mosque arrived.
The arrival caps an incredible 4,000-kilometre road and river journey from Manitoba, where the mosque was built, through two provinces and the Northwest Territories, down the Mackenzie River to the community just north of the Arctic Circle.
The Zubaidah Tallab Foundation, a Manitoba-based Islamic charity, raised the money to build and ship the structure to Inuvik to help the Islamic community there.
Suliman, who organized a recent multicultural fair in Inuvik, said it was a proud day, recalling two years of fundraising and the stress in recent weeks over whether the mosque would make it north in one piece.
The mosque's journey, which began by semi-trailer at the end of August, faced delays due to heavy traffic, highway regulations, narrow bridges and high winds.
Just as the mosque had crossed the Alberta-Northwest Territories border, it came close to tipping into Reindeer Creek as the semi-trailer tried to cross a narrow bridge.
The semi-trailer made it on Sept. 10 to Hay River, N.W.T., where it was put on the barge — the last one of the season — and floated 1,800 kilometres down the Mackenzie River to its final destination.
The mosque's journey, which began by semi-trailer at the end of August, faced delays due to heavy traffic, highway regulations, narrow bridges and high winds.
Just as the mosque had crossed the Alberta-Northwest Territories border, it came close to tipping into Reindeer Creek as the semi-trailer tried to cross a narrow bridge.
The semi-trailer made it on Sept. 10 to Hay River, N.W.T., where it was put on the barge — the last one of the season — and floated 1,800 kilometres down the Mackenzie River to its final destination.
"You want to break down crying, really. It's joyous, it's a sense of achievement," said Hussain Guisti, who heads up the foundation.
"We were told, 'You know, this can't be done. It's impossible. There's no way you're going to get [it] there in one piece.' To know that I did it — it's a feeling of joy."
Guisti said the generosity of everyone who helped make the northern mosque a reality is incredible.
"This is what Canada is all about," he said. "It shows the welcomeness of Canada, it shows the tolerance of Canada, it shows we're multicultural, we're diverse."
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2010/09/23/north-mosque-inuvik-arrives.html#ixzz10upontfk
My sister's fiance works in Inuvik; here are some pictures shamelessly stolen from his Facebook profile without permission (I don't think he will mind). These are from late September, brrrr! Better him than me.
I have been wondering, how do they decide on prayer times in the far north, since the sun never rises in part of the winter, and never sets in part of the summer? According to this Canadian Geographic article from 2001, they use Edmonton time. I do not know what they based that decision on, but that's one way of solving the problem. 
