LUTHERAN THEOLOGICAL REVIEW - Brock University

WILCH: MUSLIMS IN CANADA 43
There are many reasons why Muslims have come to North America.
These include “push” factors causing them to leave their countries as well as
“pull” factors attracting them to Canada. Among the push factors are
poverty and economic necessity, political instability, and occasional
religious or political strife. Among the first Muslims, pull factors included
opportunities for trade and adventure. After 1950 many came primarily for
educational reasons, with a large number staying or returning to Canada
because of better economic opportunities. 7
Like other immigrants, Muslim immigrants tend to settle in Canada’s
urban centres. The Greater Toronto Area is estimated to be home to 200 000
Muslims. 8 It has been predicted that within a generation most of North
America’s city centres will be predominantly Muslim. It is no wonder that a
number of downtown church buildings, including Lutheran ones, have been
sold and converted into mosques. Educationally, Muslims also tend to be
among the top: one quarter of Muslims in Canada have earned university
degrees. That is compared to an average of 16 per cent among Lutherans
and 15 per cent among Roman Catholics. 9
Muslim immigrants have been in the habit of organising themselves
locally, beginning with the establishment of a mosque where they can gather
for daily prayers and Friday worship. The mosque is often the place for
Muslim community celebrations, especially religious festivities associated
with the breaking of the fast at the end of Ramadan and the feast of
sacrifice. Although new immigrants tend to organise themselves along
ethnic lines, many current Islamic centres are virtual United Nations where
Muslims from many different countries and cultural backgrounds unite for
worship and activities. Many of these centres offer lectures on Islam, youth
programmes, and classes for teaching children how to recite the Qur’an (the
Muslim Scripture) in Arabic. Where the Muslim community is sizeable and
sufficiently well organised, elementary and sometimes secondary schooling
is provided.
CHALLENGES FACING MUSLIMS
Muslims who arrived immediately after World War II were often
secular in their orientation and assimilated relatively easily into a Christian
culture that closely resembled their own traditional Islamic values. 10
7 M. A. Koszegi, “Islam in North America: The First Wave”, in Koszegi, et al., 50.
8 Personal comm. Muslim.
9 Statistics Canada, “Religions in Canada”, in 1991 Census of Canada, Catalogue Number
93-319 (Ottawa: Industry, Science and Technology Canada, 1993) Table 5, pp. 150 ff.
10 M. A. Koszegi, “Islam in North America: The First Wave”, in Koszegi, et al., 51.