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Great Mosque of Quebec City

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Coordinates: 46°46′40″N 71°18′19″W / 46.777907°N 71.305364°W / 46.777907; -71.305364
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This article is about the mosque. For the organization, see Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec City.

Great Mosque of Quebec City
French: Grande Mosquée de Québec
The mosque, in 2022
Religion
AffiliationIslam
Ecclesiastical or organisational statusMosque
OwnershipIslamic Cultural Centre of Quebec City
StatusActive
Location
Location2877 Chemin Sainte-Foy, Sainte-Foy, Quebec City, Quebec
CountryCanada
Great Mosque of Quebec City is located in Quebec City
Great Mosque of Quebec City
Location of the mosque in Quebec City
Geographic coordinates46°46′40″N 71°18′19″W / 46.777907°N 71.305364°W / 46.777907; -71.305364
Architecture
Completed2009
Specifications
Capacity1,000 worshippers
Interior area1,120 square metres (12,100 sq ft)

The Great Mosque of Quebec City (French: Grande Mosquée de Québec) is a mosque located in the west-end Sainte-Foy neighbourhood of Quebec City, in Quebec, Canada. The mosque is administered by the Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec City (CCIQ).

History

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The Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec City was founded in 1985 at Université Laval.

The project of building a large mosque in Sainte-Foy was launched in 2002[1] by the CCIQ, as a result of a lack of space at its Université Laval facility.

In 2009, the CCIQ bought the building located on the corner of Route de l'Église and Chemin Sainte-Foy for CA$1.4 million.[1] The low rise building was variously described, prior to 2017, as looking like a building to house a hip architecture firm, with sleek lines of glass and stone,[2] and as a medical centre.[3] The building has an has an area of 1,120 square metres (12,100 sq ft) and can accommodate approximately 1,000 people.[4]

The ruins of the former Church of St. Foye, built in 1876, are located across the road from the mosque.[2]

Attacks on the mosque

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In June 2016, during Ramadan,[5] the mosque was the target of an incident in which a pig's severed head was left outside the mosque.[6] The incident was described as a hate crime.[5][7] There had been at least seven prior incidents at the mosque.[8] Because of the incidents, the mosque installed eight CCTV security cameras.[6]

2017 shooting

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Main article: Quebec City mosque shooting

On the evening of January 29, 2017, a single gunman attacked the mosque. Six worshippers were killed and five others seriously injured after evening prayers when the gunman entered the prayer hall shortly before 8:00 pm and opened fire for about two minutes with a 9mm Glock pistol.[9] Approximately 40 people were reported present at the time of the shooting.

On the anniversary of the attack, January 29, 2018, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke before the House and said that the victims were "gunned down by ignorance and hatred, fuelled by Islamophobia and racism", and further stated: "These attacks sought to divide this country and its citizens, drive wedges between neighbours, and make enemies of strangers".[10] Andrew Scheer also stated the "shooting was an act of terror", and that: "Last year's attack was a hate crime that took six innocent lives."[11]

Additional security measures have been installed at the mosques after the 2017 shooting, including a solid, white exterior wall that faces the street, electronic key cards for entry, a security desk that is attended during all prayers, and two additional emergency exit doors. The mosque has also been enlarged and increased capacity from 700 to 1,000 worshippers.[4]

Three black stone plinths stand outside the mosque as a memorial to the victims of the attack.[4]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Bussières, Ian (January 29, 2017). "Mosquée de 1000 places dans une caisse pop de Sainte-Foy". Le soleil (in French). Retrieved January 29, 2017.
  2. ^ a b Stevens, Staurt (February 4, 2017). "A Letter From Quebec City". Time magazine. Retrieved January 1, 2025.
  3. ^ Austin, Ian (January 31, 2017). "The Quebec City Mosque Victims". The New York Times. Retrieved January 1, 2025.
  4. ^ a b c Kestler D'Amours, Jillian (January 28, 2022). "48 bullets in two minutes". Al Jazeera. Retrieved January 1, 2025.
  5. ^ a b "Quebec City mosque attack: Six dead and eight injured". Al Jazeera. January 30, 2017. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
  6. ^ a b Hawkins, Derek; Freeman, Alan (January 30, 2017). "6 killed, 8 injured by gunmen who invaded Quebec City mosque". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
  7. ^ "Suspect in deadly Canadian mosque shooting charged with six counts of murder". The Washington Post.
  8. ^ Kelly, Mark; Findly, Gillian (March 3, 2017). "Under Attack: The Quebec Mosque Shooting and Anger in America Over Trump's Immigration Ban". The Fifth Estate. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
  9. ^ Montpetit, Jonathan (April 25, 2019). "Quebec City Mosque Shooting". Canadian Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on January 30, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  10. ^ Trudeau, Justin (January 30, 2018). "PM Trudeau marks the anniversary of the fatal shooting at the Centre culturel islamique de Québec". Office of the Prime Minister. Archived from the original on September 11, 2019. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  11. ^ "Debates (Hansard) No. 252". House of Commons of Canada. Parliament of Canada. January 29, 2018. pp. 42–1. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
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