The Muslim Communities of Canada

The Muslim Communities of Canada Glimpses of Muslim life in the provinces

BY SYED IMTIAZ AHMAD AND SYED AFAQ MOIN

NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR

The Muslim Association 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 1984- 1985, was designed to be functional yet reflect some Islamic architecture (http:// 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.”

The Jan. 29, 2017, mass shooting at the mosque shocked a community already numbed by the ongoing Islamophobia. “Some people say at least we live in Canada. This is what we say to ourselves to cope, but (the shooting) is an unfriendly reminder of how Islamophobia is well and alive in the country” said one Muslim.

The June 22, 2017, issue of Canadian Living online magazine (https://www. canadianliving.com) contains narratives from three Muslimahs. Fariha Róisín of Montreal, talks about Bill 60 (the Quebec Charter of Values), introduced in 2013 to prohibit religious symbols at work. “I was astounded,” she said, “to read the news and see how hostility toward Muslims was inherent in Canada in a way I hadn’t expected. I saw the racism first and began to feel myself question this place I had been drawn to, a place I thought was home.”

Torontonian Pacinthe Mattar stated, “I learned [Islam] only because my dad

invested himself so deeply in teaching it to us. … today, I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve thanked my dad for insisting [that I do so, although] my appearance contains no outward display or signs of Islam.”

SASKATCHEWAN

The Regina Islamic Centre and Mosque, the community’s focal point, was built over 30 years ago. To accommodate the unprecedented increase in numbers, the center has gone through many renovations. It supports several educational, social, religious and sports programs, as well as a full-service library of Islamic books in both Arabic and English.

Another Muslim woman featured in the Canadian Living online magazine, Tendisai Cromwell of Edmonton, said that while riding the bus one day a middle-aged man gestured at her paisley head wrap: “He tells me he finds it beautiful and wonders if I come from elsewhere. ‘Africa?’ he asks. He’s polite. I’m polite. He smiles. I smile.’ … She did not tell the man that her headscarf is a hijab … she is an invisible Muslim.”

BRITISH COLUMBIA

The nonprofit British Columbia Muslim Association (BCMA), founded in 1966 and representing nearly 60,000 Muslims, is the province’s largest Muslim organization.

In 1980, Muslims living in Vancouver and its suburbs could only observe the Friday prayers in one location. Today, they can choose from 15 locations in the Greater Vancouver area alone, as well as centers in such outlying areas as Kelowna, Nanaimo, Abbotsford, Prince George and Victoria. BCMA owns and operates eight mosques and two Islamic schools; more are planned.

YUKON, NORTH WEST TERRITORIES (NWT) AND NUNAVUT

The Canadian north’s four mosques serve small Muslim populations of several hundred families, who are primarily professionals (e.g., engineers, geologists and government employees) and transportation providers.

Given their location in a permafrost region, three of them were prefabricated in the south and transported on ice roads to their current locations. The Zubaidah Tallab Foundation of Winnipeg, Manitoba, donated them. Yukon’s Whitehorse Mosque was built locally. Their proximity to the North Pole, and thus lack of complete darkness during the summer, caused them to agree upon following the nearest major city’s daily prayer and fasting (Ramadan) times.

In 2016, the Yukon Muslim Society completed the first phase of the provincial capital’s — Whitehorse — first mosque. The C$600,000 initial project served 50 families; it’s now being expanded.

North West Territory has two mosques, one in Yellowknife and the other in Inuvik. The Yellowknife Islamic Centre, originally an ISNA Canada project, was built over 50 years ago on an existing residential building. To serve the growing community, the original Islamic Center of Yellowknife was demolished in 2019 and the new center is being built from scratch. The Canadian Islamic Trust Foundation purchased adjacent land — by far its largest undertaking in the province.

The Iqaluit Masjid, a project of Islamic Society of Nunavut, is that province’s first and North America’s northernmost mosque. Built during 2009-2016 to serve over 100 families, it features a slim crescent moontopped minaret; holds the five daily, Friday and Eid prayers as well as open houses and various community events; and serves as a food bank distribution center.

After being transported 2,800 miles from Winnipeg, on Nov. 10, 2010, it began serving the town’s approximately 100 Muslim residents.

At its inauguration, then-mayor Denny Rodgers stated, “We’re very much a multicultural town up here … Canada itself is a melting pot, and Inuvik, when you look at all the different cultures that are represented here, is just like that.

“The Muslim community is a very inclusive community. They’re reaching out and they want the community to come and see their new mosque. They want to share their excitement with us, and that’s great.” ih

Syed Imtiaz Ahmad, emeritus professor at Eastern Michigan University, has served as ISNA vice president and president; ISNA Canada vice president and president; president of the Computer Science Association of Canada, the Association of Pakistani Scientists and Engineers of North America, the Pakistan Canada Association and the Windsor Islamic Association; and as chair of the ISNA Canada School Board. He is currently the Rotary Club of Palgrave’s international service director.

Syed Afaq Moin, an adjunct professor at McMaster University and Ryerson University and a consultant on an international study in Lake Champlain, worked most of his career at Environment Canada and served as Canadian chair for the International Rainy Lake Board of Control and International Lake of the Woods Control Board. He also represented the federal government on the Canadian Lake of the Woods Control Board. He was consulted by the World Meteorological Organization, UN Disaster Preparedness and UNESCO for international projects in Mexico, Jamaica and Iran.

Canadian Muslims Enrich Media

Participation, perspectives and prowess matters

BY TAHA GHAYYUR

Canadian “Name the biggest challenge our community faces today,” the typical response will be “The media!”

While this is a lazy response to a very complex problem, over the past two decades the media has rightfully been viewed as a major contributor to Islamophobia. Many point fingers at corporate outlets focused on selling sensational stories. Others blame biased reporters, writers, journalists and producers bent upon presenting Muslims as an uncivilized and insular monolith. Many Muslim leaders complain that the media ignores their press releases and their stories.

Over the last decade or so, many Muslim Canadians have realized that playing victim is not the answer. They are no longer just consumers of media, and no longer interested in being defined by what they are not.

And so they have begun to tell their own stories. Several Muslim professionals are taking ownership of their own narrative. They are enriching traditional media outlets with their participation, perspectives and prowess, as well as creating platforms to hear, share and amplify their voices on issues that matter to all Canadians.

PRINT MEDIA JOURNALISTS

Ten years ago, there were barely a handful of Muslim Canadian mainstream journalists.

Haroon Siddiqui, who officially retired after a stellar career with the Toronto Star lasting from 1978 to 2015, was the only notable Muslim journalist in print media for over two decades.

Since the early 1990s, Toronto-based Naheed Mustafa, another pioneering journalist and award-winning writer and broadcaster, has been covering war and conflict and their long-term impacts on communities for many years. She has been reporting from and about Afghanistan since 2008 for CBC Radio, CBC Television, the Toronto Star and other media outlets.

Noor Javed is one of the prominent and longest serving hijab-wearing mainstream media reporters in Canada. Since 2007, this full-time journalist with the Toronto Star has been consistently reporting on local stories and spotlighting the lived experiences of Muslim Canadians.

Visibly comfortable with their Muslim identity, these award-winning professional journalists have been inspiring a new generation of writers and journalists for the past decade.

Shanifa Nasser, an outstanding young investigative journalist with the CBC since 2015, writes stories on national security, immigration and the country’s justice system. Her award-winning work has led to two investigations by CBC’s The Fifth Estate.

Steven Zhou, another young Torontobased Canadian Muslim journalist, writer and producer, regularly publishes articles on national security, discrimination and farright extremism. His writings have appeared in Foreign Policy, Vice News, Salon, Al Jazeera English, CBC News, the Globe and Mail, Toronto Life and the Ottawa Citizen, to name just a few.

These individuals aren’t only telling stories that matter to them and the community, but

If you ask a common Muslim

to all Canadians.

OPINION WRITERS AND EDITORS

One area that has witnessed a significant diversity of voices is opinion journalism. Starting in early 2000, inventor, writer and TedX speaker Dr. Sheema Khan has been writing monthly op-eds in The Globe and Mail.

Among the many articulate young Muslim professionals who have added their voices to the ongoing discussions in the Canadian mainstream media is Amira Elghawaby. An Ottawa-based human rights advocate and freelance columnist for the Toronto Star, this trailblazing professional was the first hijab-clad reporter in Canada. Launching her career as a reporter with the CBC and the Toronto Star in 2001, Amira continues to enrich national debates through her op-eds and commentary.

Shireen Ahmed, a hijab-wearing sports journalist, has busted many stereotypes about her faith, gender and race in this White, maledominated world. A writer, public speaker and award-winning sports activist focusing on Muslimahs in sports and the intersections of racism and misogyny in the field, her work has been featured and discussed in, among others, Sports Illustrated, espnW, The Guardian, Huffington Post, Vice Sports, Rewire, The National Post, the Globe and Mail, CBC and Today’s Parent.

TV AND RADIO ANCHORS AND REPORTERS

Muslims are most needed on TV and radio, for these represent the largest share of mass media consumption. Like other racialized minorities, they want to see themselves represented on camera and on microphone. Momin Qureshi, one of the earliest Muslim reporters in broadcast media, has been reporting and

producing at Toronto’s 680 news radio station since 2005. He also Similarly, the Muslim Link, originally a print magazine frequently emcees at community and charitable events. in Ottawa that evolved into an online magazine and Muslim

Ginella Massa, an Afro-Latina Muslimah reporter and anchor directory, has been publishing original news stories and for Toronto’s CityNews, became the country’s first hijab-wearing presenting prominent Muslim Canadians and institutions to the television reporter (2015) and news anchor when she anchored general public. Iqra.ca has also been highlighting positive stories the CityNews’ 11 p.m. newscast on Nov. 17, 2016. involving Muslim Canadians and their interfaith community

Montreal-born Fariha Naqvi-Mohamed, Quebec’s first hijabpartners. wearing journalist, made history on Quebec television as a video On the religious programming side, ever since 2001 the “Let journalist for CityNews Montreal. She also writes a weekly op-ed the Quran Speak” show has been producing quality talk shows column for the Montreal Gazette. by Dr. Shabir Ally and other Muslim leaders, influencers and

Other notable TV news reporters are Faiza Amin (City TV), imams to share Islamic teachings as well as Muslim Canadians’

Kamil Karamali (Global News) and Omar Sachedina (CTV). lived experiences. In addition, countless ethnic newspapers and TV and radio shows continue to serve their OVER THE LAST DECADE OR SO, MANY MUSLIM CANADIANS HAVE REALIZED THAT PLAYING respective communities. However, since the majority of these initiatives are volunteer-run, their frequency VICTIM IS NOT THE ANSWER. THEY ARE NO and reach remain limited. Thus there has been LONGER JUST CONSUMERS OF MEDIA, AND NO a growing demand for a large-scale mainstream Muslim media that is accessible and consumed LONGER INTERESTED IN BEING DEFINED BY by 1.2 million Muslim Canadians and Canadians WHAT THEY ARE NOT. at large on a daily basis. Considering the dire need for a genuine, mainstream Muslim channel and the opportunity

MEDIA TRAINING AND CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS presented by the pandemic lockdown, in April 2020 Sound Vision

One sign of a community’s maturity is capacity building and announced a soft launch of Muslim Network TV. Through it, we leadership development institutions. Over the past decade, will discover North American Muslims’ lives, voices, aspirations organizations like DawaNet, Sound Vision and the National and struggles to be first-class citizens and faithful believers.

Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) have been offering Hopefully, this first-of-its-kind initiative will be a stepping-stone media spokesperson workshops to community leaders, activists toward community development and empowerment by finally and imams. providing the missing communication platform.

Sound Vision’s hands-on, intensive media and crisis The English-language Muslim Network TV, which airs communications training tours major cities nationwide to equip on Satellite Galaxy 19, covers the U.S., Canada and Mexico mosque leaders and local communities with the tools to engage and reaches 50 million people. Currently, it’s also on www. media both comfortably and professionally. Such mainstream MuslimNetwork.tv, Amazon Fire TV and ROKU; soon it will professionals as Amira Elghawaby, Naheed Musatafa, Shenaz be on Apple TV, with a total of 120 million potential viewers.

Kermalli, and Haroon Siddiqui serve as instructors. A variety of original talk shows, as well as educational and

An interesting phenomenon that Toronto’s Muslim community entertainment programs, are being developed and will feature has experienced since the 2017 Quebec Mosque shooting is the Muslim and non-Muslim Canadian experts and professionals. establishment of a public relations and a crisis communications While Muslim Canadians have witnessed a significant consultancy service. increase in media literacy and second-generation Muslims in the

In particular, labor union leader Mohammed Hashim has mainstream media, much more remains to be done to support, emerged as the community’s unofficial crisis communications sustain and grow its media footprint. Significant milestones manager. He has helped Muslim families, businesses and imams that need to celebrated are the first hijab-wearing writer at a cope with Islamophobia while facing personal tragedy or negative national newspaper, a Muslim sports journalist, Muslimah news media attention. He leverages his public relations muscles to anchors, the emergence of a Muslim crisis manager and the first help impacted individuals craft their messages and navigate mainstream Muslim channel. media crises. But to make this vision a reality, more of us have to tell their own stories our own way. More parents will have to encourage

THE MEDIA children to explore media arts and journalism as viable careers.

Having a Muslim media has been a dream of many Muslim More imams and community leaders will have to be trained

Canadians since 9/11 unleashed an unending vicious cycle of professionally in media relations and crisis communications. war, terrorism and Islamophobia. Everyone but Muslims have More Islamic organizations will need to engage and hire been talking about Islam and Muslims, and yet there still is professional public relations and strategic communication no national Muslim newspaper, radio channel or TV channel. experts and agencies. And all of them will have to invest in

DawaNet’s TorontoMuslims.com, launched in 2001, continues Muslim media outlets to center genuine Muslim voices and set to do a great job of compiling and curating community news and a narrative that reflects our community’s lived experiences. ih content. It has also served as a citywide online hub for Muslim Taha Ghayyur, vice president at Sound Vision, is a nonprofit leader, writer, public events and directories. speaker and host on Muslim Network TV.