Just a half hour before their mosque was set ablaze on Saturday, members of the Kawartha Muslim Association were in the building celebrating the birth of a baby, said the president of the association, Kenzu Abdellah.
Shortly after the party left, a neighbour noticed smoke and called 911.
The fire was set deliberately around 11 p.m., police confirmed Sunday. Abdellah said the group left at 10:30 p.m.
Police say they don't know the motive, and they don't have a suspect. They couldn't say whether the fire was connected to the attacks in Paris that the Islamic State is taking credit for.
The Peterborough fire department has pegged damages to the mosque at $80,000, though the building's exterior is relatively unscathed.
Abdellah said the inside of the building is charred black with smoke damage.
"It's not what we expected," he said. "We thought it was minor."
For now, the building is unusable, and he isn't sure where they'll go for their five-times-daily prayers while it's being repaired.
Note: follow the link to donate to restoration efforts.On November 14th (2015), a suspicious fire was discovered...
Posted by Peterborough Mosque Community Support on Sunday, 15 November 2015
He said he was shocked when he first heard about the fire, and that it was being treated as suspicious.
"The Muslim community has a very good relationship with the Peterborough community," he said. "We had an open house just last year, and the mayor was here."
Now Abdellah knows the fire was deliberate, he believes it to be a hate crime.
"I'm devastated," he said. "Children pray here."
But he said the Peterborough community has been supportive in the hours since the fire, and for that, he's immensely grateful.
Photo: Kennedy Gordon / Peterborough Examiner / Postmedia Network
