What with all the nasty goings on in the World, it is easy to forget that most Muslims want nothing to do with the jihadists. I doubt my anger about it helps much. It also doesn’t help that newscasters are telling us every night that the baddies are coming for Canada next (as to why I’ll never know).

I went to visit some friends at their camp site at Point Farms Provincial Park by Goderich. Their campsite was fairly close to the bluffs overlooking the beach. Played in the sand by Lake Huron, had great fun. The campsite area can be a bit much to take in: people in ragged clothes shambling along, fires burning, smoke in the air, partly dressed children running about. It reminded me more of a refugee camp (except everyone seemed happy).

Sometime around sunset, a whole bunch cars pulled up in the parking lot and some twenty Arab guys jumped out and ran for the beach. After the sun had set, they returned, got back in their cars and drove away.

Certainly this raised a few eyebrows around the camp, little nervous whispers and slidelong glances. Here in blue-collar, rural Ontario, any sizable group of non-Caucasians are unfortunately viewed with some suspicion.

Anyway folks, to make a long story short, these are not the jihadists you are looking for. It was a Saturday. It is very likely they came down to the beach to spice up the Maghrib Salah, an Islamic prayer session which is generally done as the sun sets. Nothing more.

I know all about this. Not Islam. . . but the sunset. The beach at sunset is a damn good place to be spiritual. It’s peaceful. And one must not forget, Muslim or otherwise, that the every salah ends with the conclusion, “Peace be unto you, and on you be peace.”