ISLAM IN CANADA
Muslim Torontonians Forge a Canadian Muslim Identity A very self-confident community engages with mainstream society on all levels BY MUNEEB NASIR
T
oronto’s Muslim community has been a leader in North America when it comes to forging an integrated Muslim identity. Muslim Torontonians are proudly proclaiming their Canadian and Muslim identities and working for integration into the Canadian landscape. For the past two decades, numerous organizations have been formed and become prominent. For example, the Greater Toronto Area has one of the continent’s largest concentrations of Muslims and has always been a leader in community development — the first Islamic Housing Cooperative (est. 1981) was started here, as was the first Islamic private school: Mississauga’s ISNA Elementary School (est. 1983). Canada’s 37 million people form one of the world’s most ethnically diverse and multicultural societies, which is reflected among its Muslims, especially in the Greater Toronto Area — 8% of its population is Muslim. The estimated 1.5 million Muslim Canadians comprise 3.2% of the population and, with a median age of 28.1 years, represent the country’s youngest generation. While numbering only in the hundreds at the end of World War II, the lifting of immigration restrictions on non-Europeans during the 1960s brought in so many Muslims that they are now the second-largest religious group. Mosque construction kept pace with the community’s
Halal Food Festival
growth. During the 1980s, Muslim Torontonians established the continent’s first Islamic school, which became a model for establishing Islamic schools across North America, and the Islamic Housing Cooperative, which helps families purchase interest-free homes and has become the model for other home financing institutions worldwide.
INTEGRATION INTO SOCIETY Since the turn of the 21st century, Toronto’s dynamic Muslim community has spawned
homegrown organizations committed to Muslim participation and integration into mainstream society. According to the 2016 Environics Institute survey (see Neuman, pp. 38-39), a majority of Muslim Canadians prefer this effort, a preference that has strengthened over time. Muslim Canadians are among the most enthusiastic group of Canadians – 83% feel very proud to be Canadian, as compared to 73% of their non-Muslim co-citizens. One manifestation of these realities is their high level of
SINCE THE TURN OF THE 21ST CENTURY, TORONTO’S DYNAMIC MUSLIM COMMUNITY HAS SPAWNED HOMEGROWN ORGANIZATIONS COMMITTED TO MUSLIM PARTICIPATION AND INTEGRATION INTO MAINSTREAM SOCIETY.
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participation in elections. In the federal election of 2015, the Muslim voter turnout was an exceptional 79% and remained high in subsequent elections. Clearly, they are embracing the country’s diversity, democracy and freedoms. The Canadian-Muslim Vote (TCMV; https://www.canadianmuslimvote.ca), launched in 2015, is one Toronto-based organization that stands out in terms of mobilizing community members to exercise their democratic rights. A non-partisan civic education organization, TCMV’s mandate is to educate and mobilize Canada’s estimated 767,000+ Muslim voters at all levels of government. Its awareness campaigns, such as the Get Out the Vote sermons, have significantly increased Muslim participation in the electoral process and the number of Muslims being elected to the federal and provincial legislatures. Its success in this regard was on display during the summer of 2019, months before the federal election, when 75 elected officials from all three levels of government, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and 1,000 other people showed up at the organization’s gala dinner. Political parties are keenly aware that the country 23 ridings (electoral districts) have Muslim populations of 10% or more, and that many of the Greater Toronto Area’s swing ridings could determine an election’s outcome.
DIVERSITY: A STRENGTH According to the Environics Institute survey, Canadian Muslims agree that immigrants should adapt to Canada, attain linguistic fluency, tolerate and respect different cultures, appreciate Canadian history and respect the law. They place a strong value on diversity and connection among cultures. Several Toronto-based organizations have been outstanding
