Offers come forward to establish Muslim cemetery in Chatham-Kent

Hundreds of people of the Muslim faith have found a home in Chatham-Kent and they want their final resting place to be here.

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And it appears the Muslim community will have some good options to consider in establishing a local cemetery.

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An information report regarding the local Muslim community seeking their own cemetery was presented to Chatham-Kent council Monday night.

Ike Saiyed, a member of a local committee seeking to establish a Muslim cemetery, said not long after, two private cemeteries expressed a willingness to accommodate their needs.

He said many Muslims who have come to Chatham-Kent left behind loved ones, friends and possessions.

“We want Chatham to be our home here and after,” Saiyed said.

One of the needs of a Muslim cemetery, he said, is for people to be buried facing Mecca.

Saiyed said the offers to provide a place to establish a Muslim cemetery are greatly appreciated. He didn’t want to divulge information about the offers, noting meetings are being set up to discuss details.

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“Chatham-Kent is a welcoming community,” Saiyed said. “The people here are so generous.”

Bakhtiyar Ahmed, the Imam of the Jami Masjid Chatham mosque, said there is beauty in these offers to work with the Muslim community.

“As human beings, we care for one another disrespect of our faith, culture, ethnicity, background,” he said.

“It’s good to see there is a lot of openness between the people within the community and generosity and care,” he said.

Ahmed said across Ontario, there are limited areas for the Muslim community to have burials, noting the closest Muslim cemeteries are in Windsor and London.

“It’s really tough on the community that’s here,” he said.

He said having a local cemetery would be less of a burden for people to have to travel to bury their loved ones.

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Noting the Muslim community is growing in Chatham, Ahmed said a dedicated cemetery would also be a “huge plus and win” in attracting more people from the Greater Toronto Area who already find the lower cost of living in Chatham-Kent appealing.

During Monday’s council meeting, Rob Pollock, director of parks, fleet and facilities, said most requests by faith-based community groups are accommodated within a private cemetery or the group purchases land and gets it authorized to be a cemetery through the Bereavement Authority of Ontario .

Noting the report was just for information, Chatham Coun. Brock McGregor said, “I think there’s some opportunity for some more meetings and really identify if there are some other solutions we can partner with and what the best path forward is.”

Mayor Darrin Canniff said, “Chatham-Kent is a growing and a welcoming community and we’re going to be more and more multicultural as we move forward.”

He added it is important the municipality adapt to cultural needs.

The mayor cited accommodating to allow Diwali fireworks as an example of something the municipality put in place to respect culture.

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