Calgary Mosque Closes Due to Taint of "Dark Element"

"Dark element" is a euphemism for jihad, a cause taken up by a slew of lads who frequented the mosque, were radicalized there, and who ran off to fight--and die--alongside ISIS in Syria. It took a while for the mosque's imam to acknowledge the, um, "dark element" in his midst. Now, though, his eyes are wide open, and he's even helping the authorities clamp down on the, er, "darkness":

A former Canadian Security Intelligence Service analyst says security agencies were looking for partners in the community to stem the flow of men joining ISIS — but many in the Muslim community were in a state of a denial that it was happening. 

Phil Gurski, who was a strategic analyst with CSIS for more than 30 years, says he wishes Aziz was as engaged then as he is now.  

"He's trying to work with the police, with the authorities to say 'OK, can we work with these people, can we get to these people before it's too late?'" Gurski said. 

"That denial has largely left because they know it's happening. We are not trying to say it's systemic, and it's certainly not existential, but it is happening," said Gurski.

Since no one here--not the imam or the cops or the former CSIS analyst--can actually bring himself to utter the word "jihad," I'd say that a certain degree of denial remains in effect.