Islam in Canada

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According to Canada's 2011 National Household Survey, there were

1,053,945 Muslims in Canada or about 3.2%[1] of the population, making them the second largest
religion after Christianity. In the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), 7.7% of the population is Muslim, and
in Greater Montreal, Muslims are 6% of the total population.[2] A majority of the Muslim population
in Canada follows Sunni Islam, while a significant minority adheres to
the Shia and Ahmadiyyabranch.[3]

Contents
[hide]
 1Demographics, concentration, and life

2History

3Groups

o 3.1Liberal Muslims

o 3.2Sunni Muslims

o 3.3Shia Muslims

o 3.4Ahmadiyya Muslims

o 3.5Other Muslims

4Prominent Canadian Muslims

5Media

6See also

7References

8External links

Demographics, concentration, and life[edit]

Historical population

Year Pop. %

1854 3

1871 13 +333.3%

1901 47 +261.5%

1921 478 +917.0%

1931 645 +34.9%

1971 33,430 +5082.9%

1981 98,165 +193.6%

1991 253,265 +158.0%

2001 579,640 +128.9%

2011 1,053,945 +81.8%

2013 1,153,677 +9.5%

Note:[4]
The majority of Canadian Muslims live in the provinces of Ontario andQuebec. According to the
2011 National Household Survey, there were 424,925 Muslims living in the Greater Toronto Area
equalling 7.7% of the total metro population.[5] It consists of people especially a large number of
Muslims of Indian, Pakistani, Iranian and Egyptian/Arab descent. Greater Montreal's Muslim
community was 221,040[6] in 2011 or nearly 6% of the total metro population which includes a
highly diverse Muslim population from Western/Southern Europe, Caribbean, North Africa, the
Middle East, and the Indian subcontinent. Canada's national capital Ottawa hosts
many Lebanese,South Asian and Somali Muslims, where the Muslim community numbered
approximately 65,880 or 5.5% in 2011.[7] In addition to Toronto, Ottawa andMontreal, nearly every
major Canadian metropolitan area has a Muslim community, including Vancouver (73,215), where
more than a third are of Iranian
descent, Calgary (58,310), Edmonton (46,125), Windsor (15,575), Winnipeg(11,265),
and Halifax (7,540). In recent years, there has been rapid population growth in Calgary and
Edmonton because of the booming economy.[1]
Most Canadian Muslims are people who were raised Muslim.[citation needed] As with immigrants in
general, Muslim immigrants have come to Canada for a variety of reasons. These include higher
education, security, employment, and family reunification. Others have come for religious and
political freedom, and safety and security, leaving behind civil wars, persecution, and other forms
of civil and ethnic strife. In the 1980s, Canada became an important place of refuge for those
fleeing the Lebanese Civil War. The 1990s saw Somali Muslims arrive in the wake of the Somali
Civil War as well as Bosniaks fleeing the breakup of the formerYugoslavia. However Canada has
yet to receive any significant numbers of Iraqis fleeing the Iraqi War. But in general almost every
Muslim country in the world has sent immigrants to Canada from Bosnia and
Herzegovinaand Albania to Yemen and Bangladesh.[8]
The fertility rate for Muslims in Canada is higher than the rate for other Canadians (an average of
2.4 children per woman for Muslims, compared with 1.6 children per woman for other populations
in Canada)[9]
There are a plethora of Halal/Zabihah restaurants across Canada and especially in the Toronto
metropolitan area. In Toronto alone, there are more than 400 Halal/Zabihah restaurants [10]
A coalition of community groups called on Parti Qubcois (PQ) leader Pauline Marois to
disassociate from the party's agriculture critics statements about religious ritual slaughter. The
coalitions members in the majority were from outside the Jewish and Muslim communities. They
denounced Andr Simards statements about the humaneness of halal and kosher slaughter, the
safety of such meat, and his perception that such practices clash with Quebec values. [11]
Table 1: Muslim Population of Canada in 1991,[4] 2001, and 2011[12]

Muslim % Muslim % Muslims %

Province
1991 1991 2001 2001 2011 2011

Ontario 145,560 1.4% 352,530 3.1% 581,950 4.6%

Quebec 44,930 0.6% 108,620 1.5% 243,430 3.1%

Alberta 31,000 1.2% 49,045 1.7% 113,445 3.2%

British Columbia 24,925 0.7% 56,220 1.4% 79,310 1.8%

Manitoba 3,525 0.3% 5,095 0.5% 12,405 1.0%

Saskatchewan 1,185 0.1% 2,230 0.2% 10,040 1.0%

 Muslim % Muslim % Muslims %
Province
1991 1991 2001 2001 2011 2011

Nova Scotia 1,435 0.1% 3,550 0.4% 8,505 0.9%

New Brunswick 250 0.0% 1,275 0.2% 2,640 0.3%

Newfoundland and
305 0.0% 630 0.1% 1,200 0.2%
Labrador

Prince Edward Island 60 0.0% 195 0.1% 660 0.5%

Northwest Territories 55 0.1% 180 0.5% 275 0.7%

Nunavut 25 0.1% 50 0.2%

Yukon 35 0.1% 60 0.1% 40 0.1%

Canada 253,265 0.9% 579,640 2.0% 1,053,945 3.2%

As the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees freedom of religious expression,
Canadian Muslims face no official religious discrimination. Under Section 2(a) of the Charter, the
wearing of a hijab is permitted in schools and places of work, although Quebec has ruled that
medical faculties are not required to accommodate Muslim women who wish to be served by
female employees.[13] Religious holidays and dietary restrictions are also respected, but outside
major urban areas it may be difficult to find halal food. It is also often difficult to observeIslamic
rules against usury. Muslims in some parts of Canada have asked to have family dispute courts to
oversee small family cases but were faced with rigorous opposition from traditional groups and
liberal Muslim groups, labelling the request as a move towards imposing a Sharia Law. This
proposal was opposed by the Muslim Canadian Congress, the Canadian Council of Muslim
Women and non-Muslim women's groups.[14][15] In light of publicity, Muslims in Canada have elected
to put the subject to rest.
In December 2011 Jason Kenney, Canada's Minister of Immigration, Citizenship, and
Multiculturalism, announced that women would be required to have their faces uncovered during
citizenship ceremonies.[16] In September 2015, the Federal Court of Appeal ruled 3-0 against the
ban imposed by the Conservative led government. The government on September 18, 2015
sought to suspend the court ruling until the Supreme Court could hear an appeal. [17]

History[edit]
 Uniform hat insignia for Canadian military Muslim chaplains.

Four years after Canada's founding in 1867, the 1871 Canadian Census found 13 European
Muslims among the population.[18][19] A great number of Bosniaks (from Bosnia) came to American
soil much like Christians from Europe; some came prior to First World War. The first
Canadian mosque was constructed in Edmonton in 1938, when there were approximately 700
European Muslims in the country.[20] This building is now part of the museum at Fort Edmonton
Park. The years after World War II saw a small increase in the Muslim population. However
Muslims were still a distinct minority. It was only after the removal of European immigration
preferences in the late 1960s and early 1970s that Muslims began to arrive in significant numbers.
Bosniaks were the initiators and one of the main participants in founding of all first mosques in
Toronto. First masjid, out of which the three oldest mosques in Toronto came were founded
by Bosniaks and Albanians in 1968. The first masjid in Toronto was named Jami Mosque (56
Boustead Ave. Toronto). Later, with the action of University of Toronto professor Qadeer Baig, it
was purchased by Asian Muslims, while Albanians and Bosniaks later founded their own mosques:
Albanian Muslim Society of Toronto on 564 Annette St. and Bosanska damija (Bosnian Mosque)
at Bosnian Islamic Centre.
The first Madressa (Islamic seminary) in North America; Al-Rashid Islamic Institute
(http://alrashid.ca) was established in Cornwall, Ontario in 1983 and has graduates that are Hafiz
(Quran) and Ulama. The Seminary was established by Maulana Mazhar Alam, originally from
Bihar, India, under the direction of his teacher the leading Indian Tablighi scholar Muhammad
Zakariya Kandhlawi and focuses on the traditional Hanafi school of thought. Due to its proximity to
the US border city of Massena the school has historically had a high ratio of US students. Their
most prominent graduate Shaykh Muhammad Alshareef completed his Hifz in the early 1990s then
went on to form the AlMaghrib Institute.

Toronto Dawah Centre, 2007

According to the Canadian Census of 1971 there were 33,000 Muslims in Canada. [21] The oldest
mosque in Toronto, with the oldest minaret inOntario, built in Osmanic style is the one in Etobicoke,
that is part of the Bosnian Islamic Centre,[22] whose readjustment into masjid (originally an old
Catholic school building) was over on June 23, 1973. Mosque (an old Catholic school, bought for
75 000 CAD) was readjusted for the Bosniaks, with the support of the local Christians. In the 1970s
large-scale non-European immigration to Canada began. This was reflected in the growth of the
Muslim community in Canada. In 1981, the Census listed 98,000 Muslims. [23] The 1991 Census
indicated 253,265 Muslims.[24] By 2001, the Islamic community in Canada had grown to more than
579,000.[25] Estimates for the Census 2006 pointed to a figure of 800,000. [3] As of May 2013,
Muslims account for 3.2% of the total population, with a total of over a million, and Islam has
become the fastest growing religion in Canada. [26][27] The Muslim community in Canada is just one
among many ethnic, religious, racial and cultural communities that together make up Canada.
Canadian Muslims may be classified as Muslims for official governmental statistical and policy-
making purposes.
Groups[edit]
A major aspect of the Muslim community in Canada is the prevalence of city-based associations
such as the Muslim Council of Montreal, or Toronto's Council; organizations that deal mainly with
issues pertaining to their home city, but that support national associations. Most of these national
organisations are not grass root organizations, except the Muslim Association of Canada, but
instead are umbrellas and coordination bodies between local associations.There is also Arabic
Muslims, and they are originally from Egypt, Iraq, Jordan and some other countries in the Middle
East. The Iraqi population is estimated at about 100,000 in 2013, and around 90% of them are
Muslims. Many Arab Muslims have arrived to Ontario in the 1990s.

Bait-ul Islam Mosque "House of Islam (Peace and Submission)"

These are only some of the key organisations within the Muslim Canadian community. As the
community is large and diverse with well over 60 ethno-cultural groups. Various organisations are
continually emerging as they seek to meet the needs of community members.
Student-led initiatives are generally well supported and successful, including annual events such
as MuslimFest and the Reviving the Islamic Spirit conference, the largest Islamic event in Canada.
Liberal Muslims[edit]

the Muslim Canadian Congress, a secular group founded by Tarek Fatah,

the Canadian Muslim Union another liberal group which split from the MCC,

Muslims for Progressive Values - Canada

The Coalition for Progressive Canadian Muslim Organizations (CPCMO), composed of the
following groups:

Canadian Thinkers Forum

Forum for Learning

Islamic Council for Interfaith Harmony

Muslim Committee Against Anti-Semitism

Progressive Muslims Institute Canada

Project Ijtihad

The Council for Muslims Facing Tomorrow

Western Canadian Muslims for democracy

Sunni Muslims[edit]

Islamic Society of North America (ISNA)

 and the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA).

the Muslim Association of Canada (MAC) which has its foundation rooted in traditional
Islamic ideology with a focus on dynamic application within the current Canadian socio-political
context.

The Ummah Masjid (Halifax Muslim Community)

Islamic Supreme Council of Canada

Islamic Foundation of Toronto (IFT)

Shia Muslims[edit]
Main article: Shia Islam in Canada
Ahmadiyya Muslims[edit]

Stephen Harper (left) seated with Ahmadiyya Caliph Mirza Masroor Ahmad (right) at the grand opening
ofBaitun Nur, the largest mosque in Canada, 5 July 2008

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Canada acts as an Ahmadi Muslim representative. It has
about 50 Local Chapters scattered across Canada, concentrating mainly in southern Ontario. The
community has good relations with the government and helps in humanitarian causes. Baitun
Nur is the largest mosque in Canada.[28][29] Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Canada has many active
Auxiliary organizations such as:

Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya or MKA a Youth Wing

Majlis Ansarullah for members 40+ years of age

Lajna Imaillah an organization specifically for women

Other Muslims[edit]

the Chinese Muslim Association of Canada

the Canadian Islamic Congress

DawaNet which runs MuslimFest, Understanding Islam Academy, TorontoMuslims.com,

and coordinates Imams list in Toronto as well as Muslim youth activism.

the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) which is a Muslim civil liberties
organization and has become a leading advocacy voice for the Canadian Muslim community,

the Dawoodi Bohra Community in Canada

Prominent Canadian Muslims[edit]

Nazem Kadri, Canadian professional ice hockey player
 Amir Hussain, professor and editor of the Journal of the American Academy of Religion

Nazim Ahmed Baksh, CBC producer and journalist

Prince Karim Aga Khan, spiritual leader for Ismaili Muslims, honorary citizen

Ahmad Kutty, Islamic scholar

Faisal Kutty, law professor, activist and writer

Ingrid Mattson, professor and activist, former president of the Islamic Society of North
America

Zarka Nawaz, producer, writer, journalist and filmmaker

Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips, Islamic scholar, author and Dae'i

Dawud Wharnsby, singer-songwriter

Naheed Nenshi, Mayor of Calgary

Mobina Jaffer, Canadian Senator Vancouver

Maryam Monsef, Canadian MP and Cabinet member PeterboroughKawartha

Ahmed Hussen, Canadian MP York South-Weston

Ali Velshi, television journalist and host, Al Jazeera

Omar Alghabra, Canadian Member of Parliament and former president of the Canadian
Arab Federation

Yasir Naqvi, Member of Provincial Parliament (Ontario) for Ottawa Centre (2007-);
President of the Ontario Liberal Party

Shafiq Qaadri, Member of Provincial Parliament (Ontario) for Etobicoke North (2003-);
member of the Ontario Liberal Party

Khalil Ramal, member of Provincial Parliament (Ontario) for London-Fanashawe; member

of the Ontario Liberal Party

Yasmin Ratansi, Canadian MP for Don Valley East (200411, 2015-); first female Muslim
MP; member of the Liberal Party of Canada

Larry Shaben, former Member of Legislative Assembly (197589) (Alberta) for Lesser
Slave Lake and former Cabinet Minister for Utilities and Telephones (197982), Housing
(198286), and Economic Development and Trade (198689)

Omar Sachedina, anchorman and journalist, CTV

Haroon Siddiqui, newspaper journalist, columnist, and a former editor of the Toronto Star

Media[edit]
 Little Mosque on the Prairie is a Canadian sitcom on CBC Television created by Zarqa
Nawaz. The series focuses on the Muslim community in the fictional prairie town of Mercy,
Saskatchewan (population 14,000).

Zarqa Nawaz, with the National Film Board, has produced Me and the Mosque (2005) a
documentary about the role of women in Islam, both throughout history and in contemporary
Canada, told from a personal perspective.[30]
Mohammad Zeyara and Omar Suleiman's Inspiration series produced by Muhammad Bayazid

See also[edit]
Canada portal

Islam portal

Religion in Canada

National Council of Canadian Muslims

Category containing Canadian Muslims

Canadian Islamic Congress

Council on American-Islamic Relations

Islamic Society of North America

List of mosques in Canada

List of Canadian Muslims

List of Canadian Shia Muslims

Bosniaks

References[edit]
1. Jump up^ Muslims in Canada, Canada 2011 National Household Survey

2. Jump up^ The Profile of Muslims In Canada, Abdul Malik Mujahid.

3. ^ Jump up to:a b Muslims and Multiculturalism in Canada. March 2007. Retrieved 26 March
2011.

4. ^ Jump up to:a b Muslim Demographics and History in Canada

5. Jump up^ Toronto Muslim Population

6. Jump up^ Montreal Muslim Population

7. Jump up^ Ottawa Muslim Population

8. Jump up^ 2001 Census of

Canada:http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/home/index.cfm
 9. Jump up^ Region: Americas

10. Jump up^ Zabihah.com

11. Jump up^ http://www.cjnews.com/news/canada/ethnic-coalition-deplores-kosher-halal-

criticism

12. Jump up^ http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/dp-pd/prof/index.cfm?Lang=E

13. Jump up^ "Quebec health board not obliged to accommodate minorities". CBC News. 16
March 2010.

14. Jump up^ Boase, Sharon, "Women's groups fight sharia in Ontario; Two reports submitted
by a Muslim women's organization say introducing Islamic law into the province will harm the rights
of vulnerable women",Hamilton Spectator, September 16, 2004

15. Jump up^ Ogilvie, Megan, "Canadian Muslims give mixed reviews on moratorium; Debate
urged on Islamic penal code Proposal would halt death penalty Proposal would halt stoning, death
penalty Debate urged on Islamic penal code", Toronto Star, April 1, 2005.

16. Jump up^ Smith, Teresa (16 December 2011). "Veiled threat: Niqab ban has some fearing
a less tolerant Canada".Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 17 December 2011.

17. Jump up^ "Ottawa asks for stay on niqab ruling pending Supreme Court appeal". The
Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2015-10-31.

18. Jump up^ 1871 Census of Canada

19. Jump
up^https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/29823/1/Nagra_Baljit_201106_PhD_thesis.pdf

20. Jump up^ Saudi Aramco World: Canada's Pioneer

Mosque:http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/199804/canada.s.pioneer.mosque.htm

21. Jump up^ 1971 Census of Canada

22. Jump up^ Shia Muslim Centres in Canada

23. Jump up^ 1981 Census of Canada

24. Jump up^ 1991 Census of Canada

25. Jump up^ Canada Census 2001

26. Jump up^ http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/05/08/survey-shows-muslim-population-is-

fastest-growing-religion-in-canada/

27. Jump up^ Canada's Muslims: An International

Comparison:http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/islam/muslim-survey.html

28. Jump up^ Morton, Graeme (2008-07-05). "Politicians and faithful open Canada's largest
mosque".canada.com. Canwest News Service. Retrieved2008-07-12.

29. Jump up^ "Big mosque on the Prairie opens in Calgary".cbc.ca. CBC News. 2008-07-
05. Archived from the original on 10 July 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-15.

30. Jump up^ NFB - Collection - Me and the Mosque

External links[edit]
Ahlul Bayt Assembly of Canada
 Canada Religious Census 2001

Islamic Association in Canada

Canadian Council Of Moslem Women