Mosque follows lockdown order (but what's with that flag?)
At a Thornhill, Ontario mosque, the call for social distancing is apparently being respected. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the flag of Canada.
I recently dropped by the Imam Mahdi Islamic Centre. This was the place of worship targeted by some members of the Persian community and others last month who allege that the people who run this mosque and those who attend services here are pro-Iranian regime.
(You may recall that I covered this peaceful protest of that took place entirely on a public sidewalk; even so, the people in charge of the mosque called the York Regional Police Service. And of course, the police responded en masse, because even a falsified charge of “Islamophobia” is a calling-all-cars crisis even though some of the protesters were Muslims themselves. But I digress…)
Anyway, I wanted to see if this mosque would break the self-isolation rules by conducting Friday prayers as some U.K. mosques are reportedly doing across the pond.
When I got there just before noon, a procession of cars was leaving the parking lot. But after they left, the mosque did indeed appear to be vacant.
Still, I couldn’t help but notice a somewhat jarring sight: on the flagpole was a large black and white flag displaying verses in a foreign language (according to a passerby, this is actually the flag of Al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed.)
While we at Rebel News are free speech advocates, but it should be noted that this mosque is breaking the rules of protocol when it comes to displaying the Maple Leaf. According to the Canadian Government:
“When flown or paraded, the National Flag of Canada takes priority over all other national flags. When flown with the flags of other sovereign nations, all flags should be flown on separate flagpoles/masts and at the same height, all being of the same size, with the National Flag of Canada in the position of honour. The National Flag should be raised first and lowered last, unless the number of flags permits their being raised and lowered at the same time.”
It's sad to see the Canadian flag being so openly disrespected this way. And whatever happened to that ol’ chestnut of, “When in Rome”?
Indeed, one almost wants to call the cops, but then again, that would likely be deemed as being an uncalled-for act of cultural insensitivity.
David Menzies
Mission Specialist
David “The Menzoid” Menzies is the Rebel News "Mission Specialist." The Menzoid is equal parts outrageous and irreverent as he dares to ask the type of questions those in the Media Party would rather not ponder.