In 1996, Daood Hassan Hamdani, one of the country's foremost authorities on Islam in Canada, gave an address on Parliament Hill marking Eid Al-Adha. In it, the Ottawa engineer noted that the 1991 census showed there were more than 250,000 Muslims in Canada compared with 98,000 in 1981 and 33,000 in 1971. Most came to Canada to escape racial or ideological intolerance, flee religious and political persecution, escape famine and pestilence, and most of all, to seek a better living in one of the best countries in the world.
Muslims make up the largest non-Christian community in 10 of 25 metropolitan areas across Canada. They have settled everywhere but that said, about 85 per cent live in six major cities. In fact, Metropolitan Toronto has more Muslims than all of the provinces and territories combined, excluding Ontario. Two-thirds have settled within 350 miles of each other. "The Canadian-born Muslims, barely visible a decade ago, have emerged as a force that will influence the development and orientation of Muslim institutions in the country," he said. "The resurgence of Islam among young Muslims and its growing acceptance by non-Muslims at a time when young people are abandoning their forefathers' religion is one of the most significant phenomena of Canadian religious history."
Islam's presence in Canada dates back to the mid-19th Century. Agnes Love, a teenage bride of Scottish origin, gave birth to the first Muslim born in Ontario, 13 years before Confederation. The first Muslims to arrive in Canada were settlers and adventurers. Ali Abouchadi, known as Alexander Hamilton, walked 50 kms with his uncle to Beirut, Lebanon to board a boat to Montreal on his way to the Klondike. He later became a successful businessman. Others came to help build the railway and settle the West.
After the Second World War, skilled workers and professionals helped reconstruct the post-war economy. Scholars and academics began arriving from different parts of the world. Then in the mid-1960s, teachers, technocrats and entrepreneurs began arriving to contribute to the expanding economy. "The demographics and work ethic of the Muslim labour force have very significant implications for the cost and funding of the country's social security system . . . ," says Hamdani. "Proportionally, they withdraw much less from the system and contribute much more to it than the Canadian population as a whole."
Canadians have become accustomed to seeing the signature minaret atop a mosque in most Canadian communities. Today there are more than 200 mosques in Canada. What most people do not realize, however, is that the first mosque in North America, Al-Rashid, was built in Edmonton in 1938. It has since been moved from its original site and now serves as a museum of Islamic artifacts.
Today there are third and fourth generation Muslims living in Canada alongside new immigrants from virtually every part of the world, from China to Nigeria. This marks a new era in the development of the Muslim community in Canada. Islam has entered the mainstream of Canadian life. "From self-preservation in the early years manifest in the formation of local community associations to identity revolving around the mosque, Muslims are finally seeking to establish themselves as a cohesive community," says Hamdani.
Maybe one indication of this new era is the appointment of two Muslims to the Order of Canada: Lila Fahlman, an Edmonton teacher, community activist and founder of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women; and Haroon Siddiqui, Editorial Page Editor Emeritus of The Toronto Star.
