Would you like to learn the Arabic language?

Aylmer home to a thriving Muslim community

Quietly located next to the library is Aylmer’s mosque, home to the Mosque of Aylmer Association, a Sunni Muslim organization with a mission to serve the religious needs of the Muslim community in Aylmer and the Gatineau region. Its main activities including maintaining a house of worship, advancing the teachings of the Islamic faith, and teaching religion and language to children, youth and adults.

The association offers many opportunities for people to gather in prayer. The faithful can attend five daily prayer services and during Eid and Ramadan, there is a complete Ramadan program that includes Taraweeh (evening prayers), Sermons, Iftars (post-sunset meals), Suhurs (pre-dawn meals), Tahajjud (pre-dawn prayers) and Itikaf (staying in the Mosque during the last ten days of Ramadan). The organization holds conferences and fellowship meetings to advance the teachings of Islam and celebrates Islamic holy days such as Eid Al-Adha (the end of the Hajj Pilgrimage), Eid Al-Fitr and others.

The association’s AL-IHSANE School has a very popular educational program. Classes are available on learning the Quran (memorization and reciting rules) and Islamic sciences and jurisprudence. The most popular classes offer the opportunity to learn Arabic. These programs are available for men, women, youth and children.

The Mosque in Aylmer was built to accommodate the needs of the growing Muslim population in Aylmer. It has prayer rooms for men and women, classrooms, and a multi-purpose room, offering the faithful the opportunity to participate in one of the most important aspects of the religion: gathering together to pray and to read the Quran.

Aylmer’s mosque offers Arabic language classes for adults, on Friday nights, and for children, during the school year. Lamia Bourak, who teaches on Friday night, says that the classes attract intellectually curious people, regardless of their faith.   “These are open to everyone. We have some non-Arabic students as well.” 

The Mosque of Aylmer is a charitable religious organization under Canadian tax law. Those who are interested in taking a class, or signing up their child for a class, should contact the mosque, located 21 Park Street, at 819-684-9299, or Ms Bourak herself at 613-799-2825.