This is Brampton City Hall, a few doors south of Queen Street opposite Gage Park, on Main Street South, on the south end of Downtown Brampton.
It’s where Mayor Patrick Brown works.
In Busy Downtown Toronto, one block north of City Hall, is Masjid Toronto at 168 Dundas Street West.
At the moment, Toronto has no mayor…
So NO Mayor’s Iftar Dinner at Toronto City Hall this Ramadan 2023? Oh well.
Walking from Toronto City Hall to Masjid Toronto can be a few short minutes.
I was wondering how long it took to walk from Brampton City Hall to the nearest Masjid.
I was also wondering if the Masjid I had in mind, the Main Street Musalla, was still there?
To avoid missing a prayer in congregation during Ramadan, I chose to time my visit between Dhuhr and Asr time.
At 3:37 p.m. I began walking from Brampton City Hall down Main Street South.
Somehow I thought it was a short walk, not unlike walking to Masjid Toronto from Toronto City Hall.
Nope.
15 Minutes.
Aannnndddd…. The Main Street Musalla is no more.
It’s no longer there.
Neither is the Vacuum Cleaner shop that was next door.
Like numerous store front enterprises, both appear to have fallen victim during The Pandemic Lockdowns.
The last and only time I prayed here was with my brother Amir.
We joined Main Street Musalla’s Isha and Taraweeh prayers on Night 16 of Ramadan 2019, before the Pandemic.
Before most anyone even had any idea of the coming Pandemic.
I searched online to confirm when Brampton’s “Main Street Musalla” closed its doors, yet in numerous online directories and masjid review sites, it remains listed as open for prayers.
That’s where the above photograph was found and I choose to include it because this simple hanging banner is also a part of Canadian Muslim History.
It’s what hundreds, if not thousands of worshippers, for the time the Musalla was here, saw as they entered this house of worship to complete their daily prayers.
A record of this banner is important.
Reflecting on this, ever since I began blogging 30 Masjids in 30 Days of Ramadan in 2011, in deciding which local Masjid I was going to visit then blog about, I initially relied on a number of these online masjid listings.
On occasion, well, on a number of occasions, I’ve gotten to the listed address to find it…
CLOSED.
Not There.
It was something else now.
I didn’t bother to blog and note at all that I had visited a shuttered Masjid Address.
Also over the years, I’ve gotten at least two requests I can recall to update my blog post about a specific Musalla or Islamic Centre which had indeed closed.
It didn’t properly dawn on me until today, Day 5 of Ramadan 2023, that I should be noting Masjids which have CLOSED, that I have previously blogged about as open for prayers.
How frustrating that must be to be rushing to catch prayer, especially the compulsory Congregational Prayer on Friday, Salat Al Jumah, because you got the address from 30Masjids.ca or any other Masjid listing website? Then scrambling to find the nearest OPEN Masjid.
All what I just wrote, is to explain why today’s visit on Day 5 of Ramadan 2023 is to confirm this masjid that is no longer there.
I searched online some more, and finally discovered one of the reasons I could not find current information about the Main Street Musalla is because of a name change.
Sometime after Ramadan 2019, when I first wrote about “Al Fajr Islamic Learning & Cultural Centre” it had a different name: Academy of Islamic Fiqh.
I imagine many local attendees continue(d) to call it the Main Street Musalla.
Academy of Fiqh has a website : AIFCanada.ca
The home page confirms the musallah is closed:
“DUE TO COVID-19, THE ACADEMY OF ISLAMIC FIQH IS CLOSED AND ALL PROGRAMS ARE POSTPONED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE”
“ANNOUNCEMENT
Effective immediately, Academy of Islamic Fiqh (AIF), no longer manage this musallah.
address and start date of the new musallah will be announed as soon as it is available, In Shaa ALLAH”
Yes, InshAllah a new address will be announced as the hopeful wording above suggests a Temporary Closure.
Until then,
The closest OPEN Masjid in walking distance of Brampton City Hall is Jamia Imam-E-Azam Islamic Centre at 51 McMurchy Avenue South.
I prayed Isha and Taraweeh there on Night 17 of Ramadan 2019.
And for the remainder of Ramadan 2023, you can too.
On the first Sunday immediately after Eid Al-Fitr, on April 23 2023, between 2 p.m and 5 p.m. you can also Celebrate Eid in Downtown Brampton.
It’s happening in Gage Park, across the street and seconds away from Brampton City Hall.
If you do come and Celebrate Eid in Brampton, you might even meet the Mayor, Patrick Brown.
Join the @CityBrampton as we come together and mark the end of the holy month of #Ramadan and celebrate Eid! Enjoy free activities for the whole family, Halal food trucks, giveaways and more!
📅 April 23 | 2-5 pm
📍 Gage Park pic.twitter.com/wMUIF3uh2M— Patrick Brown (@patrickbrownont) March 28, 2023
I told my brother Amir that Main Street Musalla is now CLOSED.
We both agreed, that for however long it was there, it served its purpose.
Likewise for all the small Musallahs around Toronto and Canada also no longer here post-Pandemic.
They remain as a Sadiqah Jariyah for all who made them possible.
