The images of the night of January 29, 2017 still return to Boufeldja Benabdallah.
The call he received; Pulling towards the mosque, he co -founded; Find it completely surrounded by the police.
“It was a panic,” said Benabdallah. “All these images remind us of this sadness.”
Six men died after an armed man opened fire at the Islamic Cultural Center in the Sainte-Foy neighborhood of the Quebec city. He left 19 injured and 17 children without a father.
Years later, Benabdallah says it is important to keep the memory of the victims alive.
Remember Azzeddine Soufiane, a smiling man who leaned towards the mosque to pray in silence.
Mamadou Tanou Barry was “cheerful.” Ibrahima Barry was a serious but friendly man who helped keep immigrants in the community.
Abdelkrim Hassane was the “footballer”, who would speak extensively about the championship, while Aboruaker Thabti loved a volunteer for activities with children. Khaled Belkacemi was a professor at the University of Laval and the nearby friend of Benabdallah.
“I have good memories of them,” said Benabdallah.
“In our philosophy, we say that after anguish, something good always appears. You should not despair. I am at that stage.”
Sitting outside the entrance of the prayer room of the Mosque, Nesrine Adda and Sakina Ouchane carried squares of dark green felt, a symbol of peace and the same color as the carpet of the prayer room eight years ago.
Adda says that her father came to the mosque the night of the attack.
“I don’t even know how to explain the feeling because it was … a moment that was very shocking,” said Adda.
“It was very traumatic for him.”
Mohamed Labidi, president of the Islamic Center, says that the six men who died were his friends to whom he would see regularly.
“They offered me beautiful smiles every time,” said Labidi, his cracked voice. “And I lost his smiles.”
Mohamed Labidi describes how Azzedine Soufiane tried to address the shooter at the Mosque attack site in Quebec.
‘A good future ahead of us’
Eight years later, the National Day for the Memory of the Attack and Action of the Mosque of the City of Quebec against Islamophobia, Labidi says they are highlighting the importance of combating hatred.
“I’m optimistic,” said Labidi. “You can’t see the glass half empty … there is a good future ahead.”

He says that there has been progress to counteract Islamophobia in Quebec, but that sometimes stereotypes and political rhetoric can bring them “back to the beginning.”
Labidi referred to the idea of a prayer prohibition as a recent example. Last December, Quebec Prime Minister François Legault said he wanted to ban in public, saying seeing people to pray “In the streets, in public parks, it is not something we want in Quebec.”
Labidi says that Muslims continue to be indicated.
For the first time this year, the Mosque established information sessions open to the public. Unfortunately, he says that there are almost no that the chores came to visit.
“Almost nobody came. And I wonder, ‘why?'” He said Labidi.

“It is disappointing,” said Arif Virani, the Federal Minister of Justice, who spoke in the commemoration of the eighth anniversary.
“But I do not lose hope about curiosity and interest that I have seen in my own driving in Toronto. I know that curiosity exists throughout the country … I think we just have to double our efforts.”
He says there has not been enough progress in the fight against Islamophobia.
In a commemoration of the 2017 tragedy that saw six lives lost in a mosque in the capital of Quebec, the organizers requested that the bridges be built with other communities, especially in the current political climate.
Including men who died in Quebec City attack, a total of 11 people have died as a result of Islamophobia in Canada since 2017, he said.
“That is a statistic that leads to G7. I don’t want to lead the G7 in that type of statistics. So we have a lot of work to do.”
Benabdallah says it is essential to continue forming connections to foster unity.
“I always say that most people love other people,” said Benabdallah.
“But there is always a minority … they really don’t want to understand. It is people who shout stronger.”