Date of Plaque Unveiling: Wednesday, October 11, 2023
Speakers: Brother Adeeb Hassan, London Muslim Mosque; Hilary Neary, Historic Sites Committee
Location: 151 Oxford St. W
History
The London Muslim Mosque
London is the home of Ontario’s first and Canada’s second Muslim mosque.
Muslim and Arab families first came to this part of Canada in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many from Lebanon and Syria. For fellowship and social cohesion they established the Syrian-Lebanese Club. As the community grew and welcomed newcomers from many countries, a new organization to reflect all of the socio-religious needs of London’s Muslim population was needed and the Canadian Moslem Benevolent Society (CMBS) was formed. In the words of Now and Then, a history of the Muslim and Arab communities of London, the objectives of the CMBS was “to teach and disseminate knowledge on Islam to its members and their families, and to establish a foundation of what would eventually become one of the most unified and active Muslim communities in Canada.” Members of the Society met in each other’s homes for prayer, religious instruction, social occasions, and to make plans for building the community’s first mosque. In 1955, they hosted the annual convention of the Federation of Islamic Associations, that welcomed Muslims from across North America.
Fund raising within this growing community enabled the CMBS in 1956 to purchase a house at 151 Oxford Street West, which they renovated into a mosque, renting an apartment on its top floor. A few years later in 1961, a fire in that apartment destroyed the whole building. Insurance coverage and additional fund raising enabled the community to build the current Mosque on the property, which opened for prayers in 1964. It welcomed its first full-time Imam in 1967.
Since those years of hard work and community expansion, the London Muslim Mosque has seen growth in its religious, educational and social institutions, and outreach. The London Muslim Women’s Society, the London Youth Club, a summer Day Camp, the establishment of the Islamic Centre of Southwest Ontario, the acquisition of land for an Islamic cemetery, and the building of the London Islamic School on the Oxford Street site, are all examples of the energy and commitment of London’s growing Muslim community.