Hikmat Jamal: What is your history with the Muslim community in Toronto? Master Abdullah Sabree: My story is quite extensive. I was born in Kingston, Jamaica and grew up in London, England. I have been in Toronto since 1970. I was a competitor in martials arts from the 70s up until 5 or 6 years ago. I’ve competed on the Canadian national team and won medals at the world championships. HJ: At what point did you adopt a more teaching role in bringing martial arts to the community? MAS: Martials arts was a tool and has always been a tool. I was with the Nation of Islam in Toronto and the minister in charge of Toronto. I then came over to Islam proper and have used martial arts as a vehicle, a da’wah vehicle, to bring people to the deen. I have had thousands of students over the years and have used martial arts for developing and growing the youth. I’ve even worked with people from ages 5 up to 70 and more! Martial arts, as it is, is just a small aspect of the development of the human being. We need to develop all 3 aspects: the physical, psychological, and spiritual. Martials arts has been a tool to develop the physical and help young people improve in that aspect. We have a lot of Islamic meetings and conferences, but the physical aspect of the human being has not been looked after at all. The development of has to be holistic; the Prophet ﷺdeveloped the human being physically, psychologically, and spiritually. This is the essence of a Muslim in order to grow and be the leaders of society. HJ: What is it about martial arts compared to other sports that is special? MAS: Martial arts is an overall development. It captures elements of the psychological, the mental aspect, as well as the physical in the development of individuals. 20 | THE MUSLIM VOICE | SPRING 2021
HJ: A lot of younger Muslims, including myself, do not appreciate the changes in the Muslim community from the 70s and 80s compared to today. What are some of these changes? MAS: I found the community in a very strange dilemma. In the 70s and 80s, the community was small but quite together. The various masajid, and there weren’t many, worked together and cooperated. But, as we got bigger, we began to get smaller. In terms of our operations and working together as a group, we are a large entity much like sand in a barrel. You pick us up and we fall. This is what I have tried to emphasize—the necessity for us to come together and it is why we have the program in various masajid in the community. The focus is not to grow in size, necessarily, but to grow together as a whole and as one entity. Every one of us has different ideas and structures they can bring to the community. If we can come together as one entity we can become stronger. Right now, we are fragmented and doing very little. HJ: Is this also something you believe is a problem we face as a global Muslim community? MAS: Globally, the Muslim community is what, a quarter of the world’s population? But we represent less than 1% of the world’s population in terms of movement and change because we are not unified. This is what martial arts is all about! It’s about bringing together the different forms of the human being and working together as one person. The community as a whole can become a martial arts within itself if we bring together the different forces and varieties and make a collective effort to be a force for change and growth in Toronto and in the world. HJ: I have noticed that often, we attach a certain ethnicity to mosques. We have the Pakistani mosque, the Somali mosque, the Arab mosque, etc especially in parts of Toronto where specific ethnic groups tend to live together. And I’ve heard both sides of
