Is there something specific about Niagara Falls that appeals to Muslims?

Flying Squid@lemmy.world to No Stupid Questions@lemmy.world – 12 points –

We're visiting Niagara Falls (highly recommended, by the way) and there are far, far more Muslims here than I have ever seen at any other tourist spot I've been to. There are also a ton of Middle Eastern and South Asian restaurants and that's who seems to own a lot of other businesses here too.

I don't have a problem with it (especially not the restaurants), Muslims can go where they want to go, I'm just not sure what the draw is here specifically. Is there some sort of religious significance to waterfalls in Islam? They aren't praying at the falls, so I don't know if that's it.

Anyway, it's been a great couple of days here so far. I've only been on the Canadian side and I hear the American side is trashy, but the falls are so beautiful and the whitewater walk along the rapids was incredible and, of course, everyone is so nice here.

Edit: I just looked, there are two mosques, an Islamic society and an Islamic cultural center in the city. The population is around 88,000 people. Maybe Canada has more Muslims than the U.S. and that's it?

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I mean many people come from Toronto/GTA and Toronto is very diverse. May be simple as that.

Are you local?

I am not. I'm not even Canadian. Sadly, I live in the inferior country to the south. But I grew up in a town with a significant Muslim population, so it's not culture shock or anything. There's just a ton of Muslims here for some reason.

So, you- an American tourist in Canada are asking why there are so many Muslims in Canada? Did you ever wonder why there are so many Americans in Canada as well?

I am asking why there are so many Muslims in a specific place in Canada. As I said in my edit, there are two mosques here, an Islamic cultural center and an Islamic society. The population is 88,000 people. You don't think that is an unusual number for North America?

Now, I do see that Muslims are 5% of the Canadian population vs. 1% of the American population, so that could be it.

Yeah Canada has been welcoming a lot of Muslims in for various reasons for a long time. Lots of refugees from the Syrian civil war ended up in Canada. My parents became good friends with a family who came over from a refugee camp in Jordan almost a decade ago.

Edit: also, not that we're perfect or anything, but Canadians are on average a lot less phobic of the Middle East compared to the US.

That makes a lot of sense. Canada is a welcoming place for refugees.

Similarly, I see lots and lots of orthodox Jews when hiking in New Hampshire.

I don't know. Just one of those things groups of people like to do. They probably also like seeing others from their community while on vacation so they encourage others in their community to go as well. And then it just takes off as a common recommended vacation spot amongst themselves or something.

Also I'm sure it helps that people from those communities report that they had a good time, they were safe, and weren't harassed or anything.

(I have no idea if that's accurate, but that's my guess)

That makes sense. Although I hope they stay on the Canadian side because I imagine American border security gives them a lot of shit. They see a woman in a Chador and they probably get a fascism hard-on.

They’re just tourists and people who live there, nothing more to it. You might as well ask, “is there some significance of waterfalls to Americans? I see a lot of Americans coming here from far away.”

The concentration is much higher than other tourist spots I have been to and a lot of businesses that cater to Middle Eastern and South Asian people. I don't think I'm just noticing them more than, say, East Asian people.

How many other Canadian tourist attractions have you been to?

the topic is 'no stupid questions' and you are calling his question stupid. i think you are lost.

I’m not calling it stupid, I’m just providing context for an equivalent question to help illustrate my answer.

I hear the American side is trashy.

Lol yeah the city of Niagara falls is kinda shit, but the waterfalls are nice. I'd go over and see them if you can.

There's a joke in Canada: the American side of Niagara falls is better because it has a better view of the city on the other side.

You sure it isn't just that they're more detectable? I mean, you said that you're going by the language and things like burkas. It could just be that you're noticing them more than other groups because it's easier to notice them.

Like, if you came to my town, you might ask, "why does this shithole attract koreans?" It doesn't in particular, they just stand out against the crowd more than the crackers, latinos and black folks.

It could be, but as I said in my edit, 2 mosques plus a cultural center plus an Islamic society suggests to me that there are a larger than usual number of Muslims in a town this size, although maybe not for Canada, maybe just the US. One explanation for this would just be the town's population has a larger than average number of Muslims. Possibly. Maybe it's like Dearborn in the U.S. Another is that they want enough space for Muslim tourists if they want to come and worship. I don't know what the answer is.

Also, this place is not a shithole, I hear the American side is a shithole, but this side is wonderful. So, if anything, the large number of Muslims here keeps the place a cool place to be.