ISLAM IN CANADA
The Muslim Communities of Canada Glimpses of Muslim life in the provinces BY SYED IMTIAZ AHMAD AND SYED AFAQ MOIN NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR
T
he Muslim Asso ciation of Newfoundland and Labrador, formed in 1982, opened Newfoundland’s sole mosque, Masjid an-Noor, in 1990 at St. John’s, Newfoundland. The first documented presence of Muslims here dates to 1964, when Dr. Muhammad Irfan joined the Memorial University of Newfoundland’s Department of Physics. Today, there are more than 200 families and many university students.
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND The Muslim Society of Prince Edward Island (PEI), which was established in 1990, opened Masjid Dar As-Salam, the first permanent mosque, on July 14, 2012. A writer for the Great Canadian Mosque Trip organization wrote, “When future Muslims look back at the Muslim community in P.E.I, I want them to remember the name Farida Chishti. In my opinion she is the mother of the community. Combine the friendliness of an East Coast Canadian, the diplomacy of a diplomat and the sweetness and love of a mother and you have Farida Chishti.”
NOVA SCOTIA Founded in 1966, the Islamic Association of Nova Scotia (IANS; formerly the Islamic Association of the Maritime Provinces of Canada) is one of the country’s oldest Muslim organizations. Built in 1971, Dartmouth’s IANS Mosque claims to be one of the country’s first, if not the first purpose-built, mosques. It was built on a Muslim-owned undeveloped piece of land. Dr. Jamal Badawi (professor emeritus, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax) was appointed the first imam. In 1984, a full-time Halifax Islamic School was established and registered with the Department of Education. In an interview with the Global News (Jan. 31, 2017), following an attack on a mosque in Quebec, Emad Aziz of Halifax said, “The
way to deal with prejudice is with courage and hope and when we communicate, we share our stories, our experiences and we realize how much we can learn from one another.”
NEW BRUNSWICK The history of New Brunswick Muslims dates to the late 1960s and early 1970s, when a handful of Muslim families settled primarily in Saint John, the province’s largest city. Above-average economic growth, especially in Saint John, during the mid-1970s helped increase their numbers. The City of Saint John gave them rent-free use of a large part of a city-owned building. The arrival of Muslims in Fredericton and Moncton during the mid to late-1970s also boosted the community’s morale, for these smaller communities turned to the now relatively more organized Saint John community for guidance and support. A new era began when the province’s Muslims united under the umbrella of the Saint John-headquartered Muslim Association of New Brunswick. The Muslims nourished their faith and Islamic identity by scheduling rotational communal gatherings on Sunday. These meetings typically followed a set pattern: dhur prayers, religious teaching sessions for adults and children and a communal enjoyment of light refreshments. Abid Syed Sheikh, who immigrated from Uganda some 50 years ago, was involved in everything — starting prayer services, helping organize and plan mosques and Islamic centers, dispensing advice to communities interested in setting up their own organizations. History was made when the Provincial Legislative Assembly passed a bylaw authorizing the nationwide solemnization of marriages performed “by a church or religious denomination” (Marriage Act, RSNB 2011, c 188) in New Brunswick. One mosque, built between 19841985, was designed to be functional yet reflect some Islamic architecture (http://
24 ISLAMIC HORIZONS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020
greatcanadianmosquetrip.weebly.com/ saint-john.html) — the first of its kind in the Atlantic Provinces. Coinciding with the beginning of the 15th hijri century, the community organized the “Hijrah Bazaar,” a huge fundraising event that attracted Muslims and non-Muslims from all over the province and received very positive media coverage. The Fredericton Islamic Organization, the Moncton Muslim Association and similar institutions, as well as musallas and more mosques, do their best to serve the growing community.
QUEBEC The Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec City was founded at Université Laval in 1985 “to work proactively to help the Muslim community grow and flourish spiritually, socially, and economically as well as to provide services that properly consider the specific Muslim identity of its members and promote their integration into Quebec society.”
