(CBC) A group of Ontario imams and Islamic scholars is fighting an uphill battle to convince management at a handful of Toronto-area mosques to completely shutter their doors.
They say that while a majority of mosques are closed — some a whole week before Premier Doug Ford declared a province-wide state of emergency on March 17 — a few insist on remaining open.
The imams believe the refusal to close the mosques exposes an allegiance to certain foreign scholars not heeding the calls, and in the process endangering Canadian lives.
“We hate to see mosques shuttered, but our religion teaches us that we have an obligation to save lives and preserve people’s health,” said Zahir Bacchus, imam at Brampton’s Jamiat Al Ansar and a prominent member of the Canadian Council of Imams (CCI).
