A Mosque, In Memory
As international media crews clustered along St. John's harbour in June 2023, broadcasting the Titan catastrophe, quiet mourning was taking place in at the Masjid Al Noor mosque in St. John’s. The family of Shahzada and Suleman Dawood, who died on the Titan, prayed through their loss beside people they’d never met. That relationship has led to creation of the Shaheed Suleman Dawood Mosque, after Hussain Dawood stepped in to help the Newfoundland and Labrador Muslim Association buy the former Catholic church, Mary Queen of Peace. That church had been sold in 2022 to pay settlements to victims of the Mount Cashel orphanage, but came back on the market. The mosque, named for his grandson, opened its doors for the first time on March 30, for Eid al Fitr, the celebration following the holy month of Ramadan, although it is not yet being used for daily prayers.
