Saeeda Khanum, Regional President, Lajna Imaillah Prairies, Canada
Lajna Imaillah from the Prairie Region in Canada hosted its 7th annual Interfaith Symposium on 19 October 2025 at the Baitur Rahmat Mosque in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The topic chosen for the event was “The coming of the Messiah” which provided a wonderful opportunity for the 114 women and girls in attendance to gain a deeper understanding of not only what a Messiah signified to people of diverse faiths and beliefs but also what particular set of circumstances or signs had been foretold in various holy scriptures of when such an advent would take place.
Hinduism was presented by Leela Sharma, Lisi Schröttner provided the Christian viewpoint and the Muslim perspective was presented by Mona Khan Sahiba.
A lively question and answer session was also held, where the audience was able to ask the presenters further details regarding their beliefs, followed by concluding remarks and a silent prayer led by my humble self.Guests were then provided refreshments and given a guided tour of the mosque facilities, including the Holy Quran exhibition, book stall and Humanity First booth. When asked for feedback, the 26 guests echoed remarkably similar responses, being highly appreciative of the efforts of all the volunteers and how much they had learnt from the event, of which they had previously been unaware. Many asked to be kept informed of future events and said that they would be sure to inform others of what they had seen and heard. A media representative from Global News Saskatoon conducted interviews and provided coverage of the event, which aired in their evening and morning news reports.