THE FIRST NATION
Honoring Reconciliation Although late, Muslim Canadians are reaching out to the Indigenous people and finding shared traditions BY SHAHINA SIDDIQUI
Matriarchs from the three host nations on whose land Vancouver is situated wove a prayer rug to fill the mosque installation
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uslim Canadians and organizations are pro-actively building relationships, standing in solidarity and collaborating on social justice issues with Indigenous communities. These sincere efforts are guided and inspired by Prophet Muhammad’s (salla Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) life, and the Quran’s injunctions that Muslims stand for justice and with the oppressed. For example, the Quran reminds Muslims to strive for human unity and dignity because all human beings were created from a “single male and a female, and from them came numerous diverse nations so that you may know, respect and honor each other” (49:13). The Indigenous community’s history in the Europeanized-colonized Americas has been one of genocidal policies, crimes against humanity, persecution, pillage, ethnic cleansing, tearing apart families and racism. Tragically, even today in the supposedly “postcolonial era” we see the emotional, physical and spiritual scars and trauma still impacting their intergenerational relationships and the continuation of racist anti-Indigenous policies that have infiltrated Canada’s public sector. This reality begs the following question: Why have Muslim Canadians stayed indifferent and isolated from reaching out to this land’s original inhabitants for so long? Today however, inspirational work is being done in British Columbia, Alberta and Manitoba. Long-term outreach work in Ontario between a few visionary Muslim leaders and Turtle Lodge elders through conversations and sharing of each tradition’s spiritual teachings is now bearing fruit — for the uninitiated, the lodges are gathering place for Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples from all Nations, founded upon spiritual, land-based teachings and the pursuit of mino-bimaadiziwin (the good way of life). More than three years ago, Simon Fraser University’s (SFU) Centre for Comparative Muslim Studies (CCMS; www.sfu.ca/ccms.html) began to increase its community engagement in terms of this vision. One of the key priorities was to increase Muslim-Indigenous interaction around the issue of European 20 ISLAMIC HORIZONS MAY/JUNE 2021
colonialism. Both communities have had long, complex struggles against this phenomenon, as well as with European racism and White supremacy. SFU and CCMS coordinator Aslam Bulbulia, who resides in Vancouver, which is unceded Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh territory, British Columbia (BC), reports that both groups have diverse and complex intra-community dynamics. The City of Vancouver acknowledges this land as unceded because the First People and the settlers did not sign any treaties. The first CCMS-hosted event, convened in early 2018 to discuss decolonial solidarity, drew participants of diverse backgrounds from the Philippines to South Asia, South Africa to the Indigenous communities, to share some of their common experiences and to think of ways to stand alongside one another. In March 2018, a dialogue was held specifically for Muslims so that they could begin to think about what “Being Muslim on Unceded Land” (https:// www.sfu.ca/ccms/community/community-conversation-series/uncededland.html) means. Participants explored the spiritual implications of earning and eating food grown on stolen land and delved deeper into this land and its peoples’ history. Over the next two years, CCMS worked alongside Vancouver Biennale as they installed a life-sized mosque made of chain fencing designed by Saudi artist Ajlan Gharem (https://www.vancouverbiennale.com/ artworks/paradise-has-many-gates/). It was set up in what is today Vanier Park, but what was once the Squamish village of Senakw. This provided Muslim and Indigenous artists a unique opportunity to engage, learn from one another and work together. Here, participating weavers and graphic artists created a series of prayer rugs, thereby recognizing their shared artistic heritage and experiences of relationship building over the project’s course. The following year, matriarchs from the three host nations on whose land Vancouver is situated wove a prayer rug to fill the mosque installation. The frame for the weavings was the collaborative effort of a Muslim graphic designer and poet. The Indigenous creators handed the weavings over to the Muslims, who had gathered there to receive it and place it into the frame. CCMS has also used the arts to bring Muslim and Indigenous communities together through its 2018 and 2019 Islamic History Month programs. This was the result of Muslims recognizing that they should no longer ignore the land’s original inhabitants when celebrating their own history here, as well as the need to make space for other marginalized voices while making space for themselves. Many people who attended a daylong Vancouver Public Library event that allowed Muslim and Indigenous artists to share their work and stories found themselves transformed. As the virus made it impossible to gather in person for the 2020 event, Islamic History Month opened online with a welcome
