The Masjid al-Hidayah mosque in Port Coquitlam is opening its doors this Friday for the public to join them in an informal open house.
"We would like to thank our neighbours, all people of the Tri-Cities and the officials and authorities," Mohammed Khan wrote in an email to The Tri-City News. "We are receiving daily tens of e-mail, letters, flower bouquets, phone calls and visits from individuals, churches, mayors of Tri-Cities, councillors, RCMP and others."
Khan said the show of support reinforces the knowledge that Canada is "protected through our unity, solidarity, diversity and respect against ignorance, aggression, terrorism and hate."
Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart said he spoke with mosque administrators following U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order, signed on Friday, that bans refugee admission for 120 days and restricting immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries.
"We were hoping for it to be an uplifting event," Stewart said of this Friday's open house, but the attack at the Quebec City mosque on Sunday evening has organizers expecting a more solemn mood.
Six worshippers were killed and 19 injured, two of them critically, in the Quebec attack.
A Quebec man has been charged with six counts of first-degree murder and five counts of attempted murder.
The local Muslim community will be in a funeral prayer in absentia for the victims of the Centre Culturel Islamique de Québec shooting in Ste-Foy; the public event will begin at 2 p.m., following the prayer service.
