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Introduction
The
growth in the South Asian Muslim population in Metropolitan Toronto
has lead to an inevitable growth in their attendance at the mosques.
The mosques promote the identity and security of South Asian Muslims
in an alien environment. The author, who is leader of a mosque in
Toronto with a large South Asian constituency, describes his dual
function as a religious guide and a social counsellor. The latter
role involves resolving disputes, including those between generations
in South Asian immigrant families.
South
Asian Muslim Migration to Ontario
In
1982 there were about 120,000 Muslims in Canada - roughly 0.5 per
cent of the total population. About 40,000 were of Arabic origin,
and 40,000 originated from countries like Pakistan, India, Bangladesh,
South Africa, Guyana, Trinidad, and Fiji. About 20,000 were from
Yugoslavia and Albania and the remaining 620,000 of diverse backgrounds,
including local converts. In Metro Toronto alone, Muslims are now
estimated to surpass 100,000.
1
South
Asian Muslims began migrating to Canada in small numbers in the
1950s. They came from India, Pakistan, South Africa, Fiji, Kenya,
Mauritius, England, and the Caribbean region and they carried with
them a common bond of South Asian Islam - a mixture of the Hanifi
School of Islamic jurisprudence and Indian culture and customs.
Their intention was to advance economically, educationally, and
socially. They hoped to escape poverty and political repression
and acquire the material benefits available in North America.
The
first significant migration from India and Pakistan occurred in
the early sixties. In 1964 the Canadian government through its embassy
in Pakistan, published a series of advertisements for job opportunities
and training in Canada. A number of promising young men responded
to this offer and emigrated to Canada. They were met at the airport
in a very cordial manner, and given spending money and a three-month
visa.
2
The
majority of the new immigrants from Pakistan and India were doctors,
lawyers, dentists, engineers and other professionals. Their South
Asian degrees were not recognized, however, and consequently, they
were forced to re-qualify in Canada in their own field or take up
a new area of concentration. These young men were culturally isolated
and since they were accustomed to a society of extended families
and fixed cultural norms, they tended to become either totally submerged
and lost in a new "Canadian identity" or socially alienated and
withdrawn into their own personal lives.
In
the late 1960s and early 1970s they were able to send for their
wives and children. This new addition to South Asian Muslim society
was crucial in stimulating Islamic cultural and social growth. The
presence of family meant that the isolated male individual, who
created his own "island," had to seek out Muslim community life
in order to set up his home, raise his children, and satisfy his
family's social and religious needs.
The
seventies and eighties brought a larger immigration of students
and working-class people, many of them related to the established
immigrants. Now South Asian Muslim society in Ontario was more complete,
for people from all classes were represented and with them came
representatives of their religious persuasions and political leanings.
The
South Asian Muslim immigrant, although highly adaptable to Canada
because of prior knowledge of the English language and British customs,
is only now beginning to feel at home in Ontario. One of the chief
factors which contributes to this alienation is that Islam is a
way of life which affects its adherents not only spiritually but
socially as well.
The
observance of Eid, the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be
upon him (p.b.u.h.), the fasting month of Ramadan, and other religious
occasions require group participation. South Asians had been accustomed
to whole villages and provinces fasting together and breaking their
fast at sunset. Most people of other ethnic or religious backgrounds
do not understand Islamic customs and tend to misrepresent Islamic
traditions.
Early
Support Systems for Coping with Isolation
Being
a South Asian Muslim in the sixties and seventies in Ontario forced
the individual to develop a dual personality. Outside of the home
he or she was very much a part of Canadian society, adopting most
of the recognized customs. Inside the home, the South Asian Muslim
family constructed an environment similar to that of India and Pakistan.
A type of "cocoon" was developed where the visitor, on entering
the Muslim home, would be enveloped by the smells, sounds, and sights
of home life in South Asia. Relationships were also the same, in
that the South Asian man expected to be the absolute ruler of his
home and his children were expected to be quiet and submissive.
This
obvious contradiction has led to tension, division, and often violence
in the home. In Canada the South Asian Muslim woman, for example,
could not bear all the responsibilities of the household for economic
pressures forced her out of her home and into the workforce. Contact
with feminists also affected her outlook on the role of the husband
and father.
3
Fatigue, depression, and misunderstanding have combined with cultural
isolation and resulted in a very high percentage of family feuds
and broken homes.
Consequently,
children growing up with this tension have inherited a disillusioned
outlook on their family, culture, and religion.
4
In
the face of mounting social problems, South Asian Muslims turned
to respected elders within their communities and increased their
development of religious institutions. From the 1960s, mosques and
Islamic centres were established in church basements, rented apartments,
and small buildings. In
1967 Friday prayer was established at Hart House at the University
of Toronto. By 1969 an abandoned church was converted into the Jami
Mosque and regular prayers were being said throughout Metro Toronto
and Ontario.
With
the establishment of the Mosque came the establishment of funeral
services (janazah), official Islamic marriage ceremonies, organized
Eid prayers and celebrations, birth ceremonies (aqeeqah), and family
counselling.
Imams
and Quran teachers were recruited from South Asia and the Middle
East. The imam, who in many Muslim countries is consulted on spiritual
matters alone, was forced to counsel the families in cases of violence,5
teenage delinquency, and mental illness. He would visit homes, address
public gatherings, and give sermons in the mosque.
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The
mosque or Islamic centre, consequently, became the "second cocoon"
sheltering the South Asian Muslims from the ills of Canadian society
and accepting them when they could not cope with the pressures of
the twentieth century.
The
Eighties and Nineties
The
eighties have witnessed a new phase for the South Asian Muslim community.
Thousands
of Muslims have entered Canada, and the sense of security for the
established immigrants, coupled with a better understanding of the
laws and rights of citizens, has enabled the Muslim community to
enter the mainstream of Canadian life and begin demanding recognition
and benefits.
The
South Asian Muslim community has been at the forefront: it has established
television and radio programs, opened cultural centres, demanded
civil and human rights, and established mosques and Islamic centres.
In 1989 attendance at the two largest Eid-ul-fitr (festival of fast
breaking) gatherings reached twenty thousand. This was one of the
largest public Islamic gatherings in North America!
Planning
is now in progress for the establishment of Islamic social organizations
designed to bring together the expertise of professionals and religious
scholars. South Asian doctors, lawyers, accountants, and social
workers are at the forefront of this move to address the growth
of family problems by using the best of both worlds.
The
younger generation, having grown up in Canada while being partially
sheltered in the two "cocoons," has begun rejecting arranged marriages,
typical South Asian households,6 South
Asian dress, and South Asian expressions and mannerisms.
Some
have returned to their faith, however, in a sort of Middle Eastern-North
American-South Asian blend of dress and expression.
Others
have opted for Canadian life and have developed an agnostic approach
to theology. Given these changes, the nineties will be a very challenging
era for South Asian Muslims in Ontario, as they struggle for acceptance
and recognition. A few are planning to return home and re-submerge
themselves in their original culture; most of those who remain are
unwilling to be dissolved in the melting pot of the West.
Abdullah
Hakim Quick is the Imam of the Jami Mosque in Toronto and a doctoral
student in the Department of History, University of Toronto.
NOTES
1.
See Kettani (1969), 207.
2.
Taken from the oral testimony of Yasin Siddiqi who migrated from
Pakistan in 1964.
3.
Case study: The author has been Imam of the Jami Mosque of Toronto
for the last five years. In an oft-repeated scenario the man and
his wife arrive home from work at the same time.
He
takes off his coat and expects to be immediately served and fed
a nicely prepared meal. When his wife says that she is tired and
would like him to help with the dinner, he responds with frustration
and often violence.
This
has frequently led to divorce or a divided household. The South
Asian woman, because of social expectations and stigma, often ends
up losing her respect, her family, and sometimes her sanity.
4.
Taken from the oral testimony of Rahmath Shah, one of the senior
members of Toronto's Muslim community, October 4, 1989.
5.
Case study from the files of the author: A frantic Pakistani mother
called the Jami Mosque complaining of her daughter being taken away
by a Pakistani Christian. I summoned the mother, the daughter, and
the young man to the Jami Mosque. He was a young businessman from
a second-generation Christian family from Karachi, Pakistan.
I spoke
very openly to the couple and found that they had attended the same
boarding school and as South Asians in a hostile environment had
fallen in love. His family wanted the girl to accept Christianity,
and the girl's family wanted him to accept Islam.
The
couple, therefore, decided to elope and practice their own religion.
She complained of seeing her father frequently argue with her mother
and of never witnessing any aspect of her faith till now. On interviewing
the young man I found that he had no respect for Islam and wanted
to raise his children as Christians.
This
newly found reality and the strong emotional pull of the girl's
mother, who threatened suicide, eventually caused the young lady
to cancel the marriage arrangements (Spring, 1987).
6.
Case Study from the files of the author: In the fall of 1988, a
young Pakistani girl asked me to meet with her mother and her intended
husband, a young "Rajput" Hindu.
The
mother cried openly and called for an application of "Shariah."
The daughter blamed the parents for not observing "Shariah" themselves.
The father, on hearing of the young lady's intentions, beat his
wife and his daughter and left home.
I spoke
openly to the young man about Islam and its requirements. He was
interested in hearing more and said, "Nobody has ever even asked
me whether I was interested or respected your faith."
The
couple was very young, and in order to understand Islam more and
not to totally upset the mother, they have put off their marriage
plans temporarily. Many other couples, not usually reported about
at the mosque, have opted for marriage and in many cases isolation
from the Muslim community.
REFERENCES
AND FURTHER READINGS
Barclay,
H.B., "The Perpetuation of Muslim Traditions in the Canadian North."
In Muslim World, vol. LIX, no. 66.
Kettani,
M. Ali, Muslim Minorities in the World Today (London: Mansell, 1986).
Rauf,
M.A., "Islam and Islamic Institutions in the Americas." In Impact
International, April, pp. 9-22.
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