30 Masjids

Day 2 of Halal Expo Canada 2022 is also a Friday.

Friday Jumah Prayers being held on-site at any Muslim related event is something expected and today at the Halal Expo it was something delivered.

The prayer area itself has been available and open since the beginning of the Halal Expo on Thursday morning.

It was a simple designated prayer space using trade show booth curtaining as makeshift walls of a Musallah.

The prayer space inside the curtains had broadloom carpet.

A table at the front had a number of Qur’ans which I understood were free to take.

The translations of those were The Clear Qur’an translated by Dr. Mustafa Khattab, who happened to be the Khateeb and Imam for today’s Short Qhutbah.

A regular show room chair seen throughout the Halal Expo floor was used as today’s Mimbar.

Adhan Al Jumah, The Call to Friday Prayer.

Curiously, this Adhan was the first Adhan of the day.

I expected the first Call to Friday Prayer to be made from the main stage while being loudspeakered throughout the Expo Hall, and was privately surprised when it was not.

Whenever I attend large convention size Muslim events, the Call to Prayer is something heard using the Public Address system, echoing through the cavernous halls.

I am thinking of ISNA Conventions, or MAC National events, even smaller conferences.

Reflecting on this small detail occupied the back of my mind for the rest of Friday.

It’s not a big deal.

This was a Halal Industry Business-to-Business trade show with many non-Muslims in attendance and participating in their booths.

And whoever was an observant Muslim present at the time of Jumah would find their own way to the Prayer Space.

No one needed a Call to Prayer over the public address system.

As 30 Masjids is a blog primarily about visiting Masjids during Ramadan, this observation about today’s Adhan belongs here and is being noted.

But again, it’s not a big deal.

As advertised, today’s Jumah Qhutbah at Halal Expo Canada was Short.

However the lessons of today’s Qbutbah will stay with us for a long time.

Dr. Khattab is an Imam who promotes the advantages of using stories to explain Islamic lessons and concepts, and today he did so using a number of very short stories.

The first story was about a person who hung around the masjid all the time, but wasn’t materially producing anything.

The Imam of that masjid sees the brother and tells him to go outside and look at a bird’s nest, observe the helplessness of the baby bird and how its mother would go out and bring back food to feed it baby.

The brother returns to the masjid and returns to hanging around doing nothing.

The Imam asks him why he came back ?

The brother answers that he saw the baby bird being fed by its mother, so he figured he’d return to the masjid and other people would take care of him, take care of feeding him, etc., inside the masjid.

The Imam says, “You idiot!”

The lesson was not to remain the dependant baby bird, but to learn from the example of the mother bird going out and seeking its Rizq, its Divinely guaranteed sustenance, and then bring it back to the nest.

What belongs to us cannot miss us, but we have to make the effort, to work towards getting it, before it reaches us.

Dr. Khattab also reminded us of the names of well-known Companions of The Prophet ( pbuh ), who by today’s measure would be considered millionaire businesspeople.

He nullified this widely popular yet incorrect assumption that in Islam somehow poverty is associated with Piety. It is not.

The concluding story was about a thief who stole a sadle and was selling it for the same amount of money that he could have earned by simply acting as a security guard around the horses by the owner of the horses.

Takeaway lesson and reminder for today was that whatever is written for us, our Rizq, is going to reach us, so why not ensure it reaches us in a Halal or lawful way?

Why take short cuts by cheating or stealing our way to what is destined for us anyway ? What’s the point ?

Did I mention the Qhutbah was going to be short ?

Before we knew it, it was time to stand up and pray.

Jumah being our Weekly Congregational Prayer on Friday, the number of worshippers in attendance at Halal Expo Canada needed some overflow prayer space using carpet beyond the designated curtained prayer area.

No surprise there.

The Imam wasn’t using a public address mic, so the Muezzin loudly repeated each Allahu Akbar for all to hear and to follow each step of the Prayer.

Been a while since I experienced Prayer in a large gathering without the Imam using a mic. Maybe since before the pandemic?

I didn’t get a look at the Women’s side of the prayer area, but earlier, from a distance when it was empty, I believe I recognized Large Rugs with traditional Muslim designs, Persian or Afghan Rugs, being used to define the Sisters’ prayer area.

One of those rugs apparently was used to expand the brother’s prayer area, but it wasn’t enough.

Earlier, on the morning of Day 1,

As I was walking to the entrance of Hall 4 at The International Centre,

I could easily see the dome and twin minarets of the Malton Islamic Centre which I recently visited on Night 20 of Ramadan 2022, just on the other side of the GO Transit / Metrolinx train tracks.

The Qhutbah at the Malton Islamic Centre was no doubt longer than today’s Qhutbah at Halal Expo Canada 2022.

What will also be longer, is all the time I need to properly blog my thoughts and experience of this second Halal Expo Canada.

InshAllah, I will do that after Day 3.

The Expo is still open to the public on Saturday May 14 2022, I think the admission is $10.00 per adult person, but maybe this Promo Code :

• HEC100

still works when you click “Register to Attend” on the front page, and you can still get a complimentary, Free, admission to the Halal Expo.

If you do attend and spot me in person on Day 3, do introduce yourself and say Salam.

It’s nice being able to meet followers of 30 Masjids in 30 Days of Ramadan in person again after these past years of the pandemic.