By Mohamed Abdi
Trailblazers pave the way and leave a legacy for posterity; thus, Canadian Muslim Trailblazers have indeed paved the way for Muslim Canadians and left us a palpable legacy. Islam is the second-largest religion in Canada, and Muslims’ existence in the country predates its statehood. The first persons (James and Agnes Love) documented as Muslims arrived in the country in 1851, sixteen years before Canada became a sovereign nation. It became a self-governing country in 1867. James and Agnes Love emigrated from Scotland to Canada in 1851.
The young couple, who had converted to Islam before they arrived in Canada, settled in Ontario, the second-largest province in Canada. Their son James Love Junior, born in 1854, is considered the first Canadian-born Muslim in the country. They have made a profound historical connection between Islam and Canada. They and the other eleven persons were the first to be enumerated as Muslims by the 1871 Canadian census, the first one in the country (I could not find archival records of the other eleven Muslims.) For that year’s census, James Love identified himself as a “Mohammedan.” Back in the day, Muslims were called Mohammedan by Western peoples. The name Muslim was not popular in their midst. For them, with its variant spellings, the term “Mahommedan” meant followers of Prophet Muhammad.
The vast majority of the first Muslims who settled in Canada arrived from the Middle East. Fleeing poverty and conscription, they came as far as the North Pole, a place where the sun rarely sets. An excerpt of an article published by the Canadian Muslim Public Affairs Council reads: “In the early years of the 20th Century, those who used to be called Syrians (from today’s Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine) arrived in small numbers as they fled the mandatory conscription imposed on them as subjects of the Turkish Ottoman Empire and searched for better economic opportunities.”
It is reported that the first Muslims from the Middle East arrived in Canada in 1871 in search of peace and prosperity, although their details are not available. Among the Muslim pioneers to settle in Canada were two young Syrian/Lebanese men named Ali Abouchadi (a.k.a Alex Hamilton) and Hussain Abougoush (a.k.a Sine Alley). They arrived in Lac La Biche in 1905. Lac La Biche is a town in Alberta, a province in western Canada. Both men initiated a fur trade venture in Lac La Biche and struck deals with Indigenous peoples in the region. Ali Abouchadi became the first Muslim to speak the Cree language (Cree are the most populous and widely distributed Indigenous peoples in Canada.)
I would be remiss if I did not mention Muslim women trailblazers who made an immense contribution and left a palpable legacy for the Muslim community in Canada. Hilwie Hamdon stands out. She was born in Lebanon in 1905, the year Ali Abouchadi and Hussain Abougoush entered Canada. Hilwie’s husband, Ali Hamdon, is reported to have arrived in Canada in 1901. He landed in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and then moved to the prairies. In 1922, he went back to Lebanon and married his wife Hilwie Taha Jomha (a.k.a Hilwie Hamdon). Hilwie Hamdon had a dream to realize. She wanted to build a mosque, which would be the first one in Canada. Back then, Muslims were not that many in the country. The Census of Canada of 1931 registered 645 Muslim residents in the entire country. Despite being a busy mother rearing children, Hilwie embarked on a tough trajectory to achieve her dream. Here is what her daughter-in-law said about her: “[In the 1930s, the few Muslim families that were in Edmonton gathered together often. They decided they wanted a place to congregate so they were going to build a community hall, but then my mother-in-law, Hilwie Hamdon said, ‘If we can build a community hall, we can build a mosque.’”
Leading a group of women, Hilwie Hamdon set out and approached then-Mayor John Fry of Edmonton, lobbying for land to build the mosque she had in mind (Mayor John Fray was in office from 1937 to 1945.) Despite the Great Depression, she promised to come up with $5,000 when the mayor asked for that amount if she wanted to get such land. She knocked on doors and launched a successful fundraising effort which culminated in purchasing the land and building the first mosque in Canada. The Al Rashid Mosque, located in Edmonton, the capital city of Alberta, was built and opened on 12 December 1938. Hilwie Hamdon was a bold trailblazer. In addition to her legacy enshrined in the Al Rashid Mosque, Hilwie Hamdon School located in Edmonton was named after her, immortalizing her memory.
Canada’s Muslims were seen as invisible and minuscule until 1971. Based on the time they entered the country, their number was relatively small. In his book Minarets on the Horizon: Muslim Pioneers in Canada, Dr. Murray Hogben writes, “There were less than six thousand Muslims in Canada in 1961. Today, there may be up to 1.5 million of us spread out across this country.” Not only were Muslims few in Canada, but also their religion was unpopular among the vast majority of the country’s population. While writing this book, Murray Hogben interviewed many Muslims on varied issues concerning their experiences in Canada.
Among them was a gentleman named Usman Ali, from Fiji, who arrived in Canada in 1964. Here is his anecdote: “One day, I was looking for a job. It was raining, and a gentleman came to me with an umbrella and gave me some shelter, so I said thank you. He asked me if I was new in town, and I said yes. Where from? I said, from Fiji. So he said, “You must be a Christian.” I said, “No, I’m a Muslim.” He said, “What is that?” I looked at him and I was stunned, shocked, that a person in Canada didn’t know who Muslims are.” Afterwards, when I came back, I went to the library to see if I could find something on Islam. So I asked the librarian if there were any books on Islam.” He said, “I never heard of that religion.”
With the presence of more than a million and a half Muslims in Canada, Islam is now a visible religion known to almost every person in the country. “The Parliament of Canada proclaimed October Canadian Islamic History Month in 2007 in recognition of significant contributions Muslims have made to Canadian society.” Without the efforts of the Muslim pioneers, life would not be as easy as it is today. Those first Muslims who arrived in Canada braved harsh circumstances and endured varied trials and tribulations. Nevertheless, they stuck to their faith, introduced their culture to other Canadians, established mosques, schools, diverse businesses, and Halal meat shops. We are indebted to Canadian Muslim trailblazers, and our hats are off to them.
Mohamed Abdi
Email: [email protected]
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Mr Abdi is a Somali-Canadian writer.
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