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A debate that has largely played out on social media and in online comments, shifted into an in-person setting as supporters and opponents of a downtown Regina mosque’s outdoor call to prayer met Friday.
The Regina City Jamia Masjid hosted a community open house to hear questions and concerns before deciding whether to seek permission for another outdoor broadcast of the call to prayer.
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The mosque previously tested broadcasting the call outdoors before its Friday prayer service. The brief weekly broadcast prompted support, opposition and reaction from beyond Saskatchewan, leading mosque leaders to pause and gather more feedback.
People attending the open house remained divided over whether the broadcast should return.
Gail Becker came to register her opposition. She said she supports freedom of religion but does not believe a public broadcast is necessary for people to practise their faith.
“They have watches, apps that call them to prayer,” Becker said.
Her concern, she said, is not with people worshipping inside the mosque but with a religious message being carried into the surrounding community.
“I don’t want to be hearing there is only one God but Allah,” she said.
Despite her opposition, Becker rejected the negative reaction that has surrounded parts of the discussion.
“Hate never solved anything,” she said.
Cale Fladager attended to support the mosque and its right to broadcast the call to prayer.
“They have every right to broadcast,” Fladager said.
He said the call has a communal purpose that cannot be replaced entirely by a phone notification or a watch.
“It’s a public call to remind the community that it’s their time to pray,” he said.
Fladager compared the broadcast to other sounds associated with religious worship.
“It’s exactly the same as church bells,” he said.
He argued the mosque should be afforded the same freedom of expression as other faith communities.
“It’s their right as Canadians to have freedom of faith,” Fladager said.
The discussion was largely cordial, but tensions rose during an exchange involving Ward 1 Coun. Dan Rashovich and Ward 3 Coun. David Froh.
Regina Ward 1 Coun. Dan Rashovich speaks with reporters outside Regina City Jamia Masjid after attending the mosque’s community open house on its proposed outdoor call to prayer. (Jacob Bamhour/980 CJME)
Rashovich said he supports the freedom to practise any religion but opposes carrying the call to prayer over loudspeakers into the wider neighbourhood.
“I believe people should be able to practise whatever they want,” he said. “But I think keep it within your church, keep it within your mosque, keep it within the walls of your church.”
Rashovich said spoken religious messages are different from church bells because the words themselves can carry meanings that people interpret differently.
“Words can be interpreted in many different ways,” he said, adding those interpretations “could create, I think, division in the community.”
He said people should also be able to oppose the broadcast without automatically being labelled racist or bigoted.
“As soon as people actually stand up and actually want to oppose something or don’t agree with something, all of a sudden they become racists and bigots,” Rashovich said. “I think that’s wrong.”
Rashovich said he hopes the mosque ultimately decides not to resume the outdoor broadcast.
Froh emphasized that municipal governments cannot use local bylaws to take away freedoms protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
“Thankfully, municipal government does not have the authority to restrict Charter rights and freedoms,” Froh said.
He said those freedoms include the right to express religious and political views, to dissent, assemble and proclaim beliefs.
“Everyone can have the right to express their religion, to express their political views, to dissent, to assemble, to proclaim,” Froh said.
The authority to issue permits under Regina’s noise bylaw rests with the Regina Police Service, Froh said, rather than city council.
“The chief of police and the Regina Police issue permits under the existing noise bylaw, and it is the parameters of that bylaw that they use,” he said.
Froh said most of the correspondence he received from outside Saskatchewan was more forceful, while people in his ward tended to ask questions and seek context.
He said difficult conversations are better handled in person than through social media.
“We can disagree. Our community is changing,” Froh said. “Change can feel uncomfortable, but change is also good.”
He added that face-to-face conversations give people an opportunity to understand one another, even when they remain on opposite sides.
“When you have an opportunity in person to talk, that’s how community is built,” Froh said.
Mosque organizers said that was also the broader purpose of the open house — the event was not only about counting survey responses, but also about giving people a chance to ask questions, meet one another and discuss the issue away from the anger that can dominate online conversations.
Survey forms asked attendees for feedback on Regina City Jamia Masjid’s proposed outdoor Friday call to prayer. (Jacob Bamhour/980 CJME)
Mosque members are expected to review the surveys and feedback gathered through the open house, along with information from the Regina Police Service, before deciding whether to move forward with another outdoor call to prayer.
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