London Muslim community gathers to mark the end of Ramadan

Thousands of people have gathered at the London Muslim Mosque to end the holy month of Ramadan with prayer.

The service was originally set to take place at Western Alumni Stadium, but due to rainy weather, it was moved to the mosque.

“We originally planned to have three services at the mosque and we were completely over capacity so we end up adding a fourth,” said Imam Aarij Anwer.

Hundreds turned up for the 10 a.m. service with multiple rooms inside the mosque, not typically used for prayer, which had to be opened to accommodate the roughly 4,000 to 5,000 people in attendance.

Anwer says the growing population in London, Ont. and the excitement to get back to in-person celebrations is what accounts for such a large turnout this year.