It's the week before Ramadan and Iqaluit's Muslim community is getting ready to come together for the first time in a year when public health restrictions meant they couldn't gather.
"The mosque is not only a place to pray. It's a place to socialize, to talk to other Muslims," Diakite said.The men's prayer room, across the hall from the women's prayer room, is carpeted in a bold red pattern. The space has rectangular windows on three of its four white walls. The mosque opened in 2016 and Diakite said Iqaluit's Muslim community has grown ever since.
Diakite said he hesitated about moving to the North, unsure if he would be able to practise his religion in Iqaluit, but people have been nothing but accepting. Diakite said he has always followed Iqaluit's sunrise and sunset during Ramadan since moving to the capital.Iqaluit, which is below the Arctic Circle, does see the sun set in the summer, though only briefly. Muslims in High Arctic communities where the sun never sets follow Ottawa's daylight hours, Diakite said. "The point is not that you suffer."
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