Windsor Muslims prepare for start of Ramadan

As the holy month of Ramadan begins Monday, Windsor's Muslim population will be fasting during from dawn to dusk.

With the timing of this year's Ramadan arriving during some of the longest days of the year — resulting in large congregations running later than usual — the Windsor Islamic Association has published some guidelines aimed at helping its members be better neighbours while visiting the mosque.

"While it is not our intention to prevent people from social interactions during Ramadan, we do want to request everyone be mindful of neighbours around our Masjid area," one of the guidelines states. "Please avoid loud chatter and hanging around in groups that could appear intimidating."

The rules are meant to remind members of their responsibilities while attending evening prayers, mosque spokesperson Lina Chaker says.

"There's going to be a lot of night prayers going on during the month of Ramadan and especially in the summer, they can get very late," she says. "This is just an effort to keep our community safe. The prayers will be going until past midnight so [it's] just to make sure the neighbourhood is well-maintained and taken care of."

Mosque volunteers recently delivered more than 100 boxes of chocolates with thank you notes to neighbours and teachers at the neighbouring Holy Names Catholic High School, reminding them of the upcoming holy month.

"Our mosque gets pretty busy during this month, especially on weekends between the hours of 9 p.m. [and] midnight," the note reads. "We would like you to know that our team of volunteers will be on standby to make sure that our neighbours are not inconvenienced during this time."

Mosque officials are working with local authorities to make sure the events "have the least possible impact on our neighbourhood," the note adds.

Those in the neighbourhood, on the other hand, don't seem too concerned about the extra traffic.

"This is a mostly residential community and we have a Catholic high school next door. I think, frankly, that picking up kids after school is much more chaotic from there than ever the amount of people coming from prayers," says Greg Larocque, who lives on Northwood Street, near the mosque.

"It's what they need to do for their religion and if it means I wait at a red light a few minutes longer, I don't really care. They are doing what they need to do and I feel it makes my community stronger."

The mosque also held an open house over the weekend.

Ginger Bridgewater, a Grade 11 Holy Names student, was one of the attendees. She says she learned a lot from the visit.

"I learned that Christians and Muslims, we're actually a lot alike and there's a thin line that kind of divides us," she says. "That was really interesting because a lot of people they believe the complete opposite."

That's the type of bridge-building mosque officials intended, Chaker says. "The open house is to break those barriers ... making sure people feel comfortable with this mosque."

Millions of Muslims around the world will take part in Ramadan, abstaining from eating and drinking from sunrise to sunset. The fast is intended to bring them closer to God and to remind them of the suffering of those less fortunate.