LUTHERAN THEOLOGICAL REVIEW - Brock University

48 LUTHERAN THEOLOGICAL REVIEW IX
prisons, enrolling more than five hundred individuals in an Islamic
Correspondence Course. 28
Another paramosque agency dedicated to the spread of Islam in North
America is the World Muslim League founded by the Saudi Arabian
government in 1962. The League assists Muslim communities wherever
they exist with youth camps, summer schools, and other such programmes;
it has also provided teachers and religious leaders for Islamic centres,
developed prison ministries, provided fellowships and grants for Muslim
university professors, contributed to the production of television and radio
programmes, and aided in the establishment of Muslim newspapers and
journals. 29
Muslim students turned professionals founded the “Islamic Society of
North America” (ISNA) in 1983, which is an important Pan-Islamic
organisation. 30 In Canada the “Islamic Circle of North America” was
established in 1971, headquartered in Montreal. Other such organisations
include the older “Federation of Islamic Associations of the U.S.A. and
Canada”, which in Canada has become the “Council of Muslim
Communities in Canada”. There are also a number of sectarian Islamic
organisations present in Canada, like the Baha’i and Ahmadiyya
communities which are also very active in recruiting converts.
In spite of dozens of organisations dedicated to Islamic proclamation in
the West, according to Larry Poston, Islamic mission activity in North
America is still in its infancy. He believes that Islamic organisations have
much more potential growth ahead as they mature in their development of
outreach strategies and take advantage of opportunities that present
themselves. In the years to come it can be expected to see dawah activity
increase substantially as Muslims gain confidence in themselves as the
bearers of a viable religious alternative for North American society. 31
EPILOGUE
How are Christians reacting to the increasing numbers of Muslims and
their influence in Canada Understandably, people tend to react negatively
to something new and unfamiliar. But what is a proper Christian attitude in
the face of the challenge of Islam in North America Perhaps we need to ask
28 “Know Your MSA”, brochure.
29 S. Mazhar Hussain, Proceedings of the First Islamic Conference of North America (New
York: Muslim World League, 1977).
30 Sulayman S. Nyang, “Convergence and Divergence in an Emergent Community: A
Study of Challenges facing U.S. Muslims”, in Haddad 242.
31 Poston, in Haddad 126, 134.