Noon Academy is a private Islamic elementary and High School for children in Brampton, Ontario.
They have a Masjid which offers Jumah Prayers year-round and Taraweeh Prayers during Ramadan.
Noon Academy in Brampton is where I went for tonight’s Isha and Taraweeh prayer.
I was expecting to see many more cars in their parking lot.
Entry into the masjid was different that during my previous visits.
I was expecting way more people once inside.
Noon was spacious tonight compared to the full house inside Sayeda Khadija Centre’s Isha prayer on Saturday.
A side-door which is usually closed has been converted into the main entrance to the Masjid alone, by-passing the need to walk through the school hallways to reach the masjid.
That’s a smart change. In and out. Easy.
Small plastic bags are provided atop a table beside some hand sanitizer.
We bag our shoes and bring them into the hall with us.
As 9:30 p.m. approached, the start time for Isha, I was still waiting to see more people arrive.
Nope.
This was it.
Both men and women and children pray in the same medium sized prayer hall. There is no barrier between them.
I didn’t look closely, but from a distance, I might guess maybe 20 sisters in total were present for Isha and Taraweeh tonight. They had plenty of open space.
For the brothers, we ended up at two lines plus a few more standing in the third line.
We weren’t standing shoulder-to-shoulder, but maybe that was just me.
I brought my own prayer mat to put in front of me. A handful of others did as well.
Most of the brothers were praying on the regular masjid carpet, pre-pandemic style… can I even say that? “Praying pre-pandemic style”…?
Most were not wearing masks.
I kept mine on.
Every masjid’s congregation has their own COVID safety protocol rules and comfort levels.
These are the ones at Noon Academy for now.
During Taraweeh, the Imam recited verses from The Qur’an by reading it from pages open before him.
His Qur’an was open atop a music stand beside the mimbar. Music stands aren’t just for sheet music!
At least on this night, the one leading Taraweeh didn’t appear to be a Hafiz.
Unlike Saturday night during Sayeda Khadija Centre’s Taraweeh prayer when I felt overwhelmed being around so many fellow worshipers by the sixth rakat, tonight I’m simply tired.
I stop praying Taraweeh after eight rakats.
I’m not the only one.
