“We will pray at home,” said Karim Sibous, a spokesman for the Addoha Mosque. “We will not pray together.”
Taped in the window of the mosque is a short communiqué: “The Muslim community of Terrebonne and its Association Rive Nord cease their peaceful activities of rejuvenation spiritual, social and educational in this location without having committed any fault, and starting from 4 p.m., Feb. 26, 2015, to respect the directives of their city, Terrebonne.”
The mosque’s administrative council decided earlier Thursday to comply with an order the city made last Friday, demanding he mosque cease functioning at that location by 4 p.m.
Members had planned to challenge the order, but after an emergency meeting, Mr. Sibous said, they realized they could face financial penalties
“We had planned to stay and defend ourselves, but we had the information that the mosque faces financial penalties of $912 a day,” he said.
Mr. Sibous, who hopes to get permission from the city to open the mosque elsewhere, did not want to criticize municipal officials.
This is the third mosque in Quebec restricted by municipalities in recent weeks. On Jan. 31, Montreal refused an occupation permit to an Islamic centre proposed by a cleric Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre described as an “agent of radicalization.”
Two weeks ago, Shawinigan denied a zoning permit to a mosque in an industrial park, the result of what Mayor Michel Angers called “irrational fears” by non-Muslim residents.
The Terrebonne mosque had to shut because it obtained authorization to open under false pretences, said Joël Goulet, a municipal spokesman.
“The city enforces the regulations,” he said. “It’s not because it’s a mosque. If it’s a synagogue, if it’s a church, if it’s a massage parlour, we have to apply the rules.”
He produced a 2011 certificate of authorization showing the mosque applied for approval for a “research and development enterprise.”