Jubilation across Canada as Jamatkhana opens at new Ismaili Centre, Toronto

Toronto, 19 September 2014 — Ismaili Muslims from across the city gathered to attend Jamatkhana for the first time at the Ismaili Centre, Toronto. It was a particularly happy and emotional occasion, especially for the Jamat who live in the Don Mills area and surrounding neighbourhoods.

One week earlier, the Jamat in Canada and around the world watched as Prime Minister Stephen Harper opened the new Ismaili Centre in the presence Mawlana Hazar Imam.

The first use of the Jamatkhana within the Ismaili Centre for congregational prayers, was a particularly happy and emotional occasion, especially for Ismailis who live in the Don Mills area of Toronto and surrounding neighbourhoods.

“After many years of being in school halls in different Jamatkhanas,” explained Sheherazade Hirji, President of the Ismaili Council for Ontario, the Jamat “just found a strong sense of its permanent identity here in Toronto.”

In addition to commencing Jamatkhana services, the Ismaili Centre is now open for a full range of institutional programmes and social activity. The Ismaili Council for Canada held their first meeting at the Centre this weekend, and visitors are now able to book tours of the facility.