By Cyril Anderson

In the past, the Muslim community in Canada has consisted of a number of different nationality based communities based on country of origin.

 This occurs for a number of reasons, for example, language and comfort; the new immigrants, going through great upheaval in their life, like to have something stable and familiar, a place that reminds of home.  This is somewhat natural, based on the histories of past immigrant communities.  This is always a stage that seems to have been gone through; for example, here in Montreal, a common story has held for Italians, Jews, Greeks, and others.  New arrivals for comfort and self-preservation congregate together to help each other and build each other up as a community with a shared outlook and culture.  It is a strange identity for a long time, an unsettledness in which one foot is in one country, one in another.

 But a curious thing happens in the youth, the children of these immigrants.

The youth are born here, grow up here, go to school here, speak the languages of here, think and look at the world in ways that are attuned to here.  Many of the most important parts of their formative experiences are formed here in Canada.  They are Canadian, and a large part of their identity is Canadian.  They may feel some connection and pride for the nation of their heritage, but they feel more connection to Canada and the culture of Canada. 

 Many of them feel alienation within the community centers of their parents because of language and cultural concerns.  Their parents are divided, one foot in Canada, one foot in their home countries, but for the children, the balance leans toward Canada.  The children are more comfortable in English and French, feel less connection to their parents’ culture, and look for new and different ways of doing things

 On the other side, new Muslims from Canadian backgrounds have trouble finding their place within the Muslim community.  They feel welcomed in a general sense, but have difficulty feeling that they have a place.

 In order to deal with the challenges faced by both these groups, there is a need to forge and embrace a Muslim community with a distinctly Canadian identity embracing the English and French languages and the multicultural nature of the country to cater to the needs of both these segments of the community and also to better interface with the non-Muslim majority of this country.

 This is just following the pattern of earlier Muslim communities.  We have to understand that almost all Muslim countries started with missionaries and converts, and later developed Muslim communities with a flavor specific to their nations.  Persia received Arab missionaries, but Islam developed and took hold there through the vehicle of the Persian language and culture, which fused with Islam to create a distinct local flavor of the religion.  Persian missionaries went to India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, but Islam developed there through the languages and cultures of those nations.  Similar with the Muslim communities of SE Asia, of Africa, and elsewhere.  The Muslim communities of Europe and the Americas are just the latest part of this ongoing process of the spread and development of Islam. 

Islam has universal principles, but it is also flexible enough to adapt to different places, times, and cultures.  As Islam spreads, Islam evolves in its practical application, and is shaped by absorbing the influence of these different cultures, and at the same time, Islam penetrates into these cultures and leaves reciprocally its own influence.

 Rapidly, a European Islam is emerging, and an Islam of Canada, America, and perhaps, as time goes by, of the Americas in general.  It is our job as Canadian Muslims to be a part of this momentous development.  The task at hand is not one that should be feared, but rather one that should be relished, and embraced.  We are pioneers, with a chance to be integrally involved with the historical development of Islam.  We have a chance to lay the foundations, the groundwork. 

Our organization aspires to be a key part of this process.  We, the executives, drawing upon our Canadian character as Muslim converts, wish to participate in a key and perhaps leading way in this process.  We do not seek to compete with existing organizations, but to work with them, and to inspire them and help them to make a transformation that they inevitably will have to make to survive as communities.  I think Lebanese, Iraqi, Iranian, Afghani, Indian, Pakistani, and other communities will continue to exist as such in Canada to some extent.  People value their heritage, and though second generation members tend to stray away for a while, the powerful draw of our roots draws us back.  Though these communities will transform and operate in French and English, they will in their strength be drawn back in the curiosity of where they came from.  I take myself as an example; I am a third generation Canadian; Canadian is my identity.  But I feel nevertheless a stirring in my heart that draws me toward the Ireland of my grandparents.  I would like to visit someday and learn about my heritage.  The communities here will no doubt follow the same pattern