Lebanese Muslims in North America: London Muslim Mosque Construction from its foundation 1962-1964

Abdullah Hassan Igram of Cedar Rapids Iowa, USA, was the founder of the Federation of Islamic Associations of USA and Canada in 1951-1952.
In 1952 in London Ontario, Canada, the Canadian Muslim Benevolence Society was formed.
With the help of Hani Shousher and his brothers Hussain and Yahia, in 1955, The North American Islamic Convention came to London, Ontario. $3000 was donated during this convention to help enable the Muslims of London to start their first mosque.
1956, a large house on 151 Oxford St. W in London, Ontario was bought and was used as the first London Muslim Mosque.
In the summer of 1961, Muslim leaders of London decided to renovate the house used as the mosque. They were Ahmed Seede Elsayed, Ahmed Assaf Hassan, Hussain Assaf Hassan, and Kassem Burkit Barakat. Muslims of London gathered at the house/mosque and celebrated with a Lebanese style dabke as they sang old Arabic country songs. Their names were Omar Assaf Hassan and wife Suad Fadel, Abdo Assaf Hassan and wife Sumaya, Ali Seede Elsayed and wife Zakiya Yassine, Abdullah Baroudi and his wife Hayat Murad, Ahmed Hijazi, and the wife of Mohamed Madawi. Also attending was Khaled Al Moghrabi who came from Lac La Biche, Alberta. His aunt Mariam married Darwish Taha in 1929. Darwish Taha became the first president of the Rashid Mosque in Edmonton, Alberta in 1938. Sobhi Elsayed also attended, using the back of a guitar for a drum.
In October 1961, the house used as the London Muslim Mosque was destroyed by a fire. The Canadian Muslim Benevolence Society members in London voted for a decision for direction for the future of the Muslim community in London.
In November and December in 1961, the first London Muslim Mosque Board of Directors was named. They were Ahmed Assaf (president), Rafaat Fadel (secretary), Najib Fadel (treasurer), Ahmed Seede Elsayed (finance), and Omar Assaf (building). Also, four life-time trustee members were named to take care of London Muslim community needs in the future. Their names were Omar Assaf, Ali Seede Elsayed, Dr. Mir Ali, and Ahmed Hammoud. All board and trustee members decided to build a large mosque, replacing the original mosque at the same address on 151 Oxford St. W. from its foundation. Part of the construction agreement was to allow all young Muslim men in London Ontario to help build the mosque with their own hands with the help of the construction company.
January 1, 1962, the construction company started to remove earth to shape the mosque’s ground floor and wall foundations.
In the spring of 1962, the front line Muslim workers gathered to build its cement wall foundation. Ahmed Seede Elsayed waited for the first cement truck to arrive. Ahmed Assaf shoveled the cement towards building the mosque’s cement foundation while wearing a suit and new shoes. He said at the time, “Today, I feel so good. It is time to start working”. After Ahmed had greeted everyone, Sobhi Elsayed heard these. The group of Muslim men built the wooden formation for the cement work. Their names were Omar Assaf, Abdo Assaf, Kassem Assaf, Barakat Barakat, Khalil Fadel, Najib Fadel, Saeed Hassan, Sammi Hassan, Hassan Kajan, Ahmed Hammoud, Jomaa Jomaa, Ali Abdul-Aal, Assem Fadel, and Hasan Darwish. Mohamed Najib Jomaa did lots of work during the mosque construction and was an early Muslim school teacher. Assem Fadel held a sledge hammer as he came towards Ahmed Seede Elsayed, who was wearing a white shirt. Sobhi Elsayed (who held a pick and shovel standing with shiny black hair) dug the ground. Hassan Darwish who was shaking a small hammer talking to Omar Hassan. That day was a very hot day and many Muslim workers took their shirts off.
Ahmed Assaf was talking to his son Anwar as well as Hassan Darwish about the accomplishments so far.
Omar Assaf, Hassan Darwish, Sammi Assaf, Hussain Fayed, Darwish Chahbar, and Abdul-Rahman Hassan helped remove unneeded items with wheelbarrows.
Barakat Barakat was working hard.
Muslim children who were born in London, Ontario came to celebrate to building of a new mosque. They were the children of Omar Assaf, Najib Fadel, Abdullah Baroudi, and Ahmed Hijazi. The twin daughters of Omar Assaf carried their youngest brother, Faisal, as they were happy to have a new Muslim mosque in London.
The photo of the three men standing in front of the mosque shows Najib Fadel talking to one of the engineers while Sobhi Elsayed stood with his hands behind his back.
The dedication (grand opening) of the London Muslim Mosque was on June 27, 1964. Ahmed Assaf and Najib Fadel were talking to the London Ontario mayor F. Gordon Stronich. Ali Muhadeen Fadel who was from Jersey City, and Kassem Barakat were also present. Mohamed Saeed Masud was from Montreal. Mohamed Najib Jomaa was standing beside the mosque’s front door.
Thank you to Adeeb Hassan for the video.

[@salehlaylaalathamna2096]

ما شاء الله ، تبارك الله ، و جزاهم الله خيراً كل من ساهم و شارك في بناء هذا المسجد

[@mohamaddabaja3242]

رحم الله جدي خليل فاضل