Muslim Histories in Canada: A Discussion with Dr. Murray Hogben
Sophia Ceccucci, Investigative Journalist
October 28, 2021
Edmonton’s Al-Rashid Mosque at its 1938 opening
The Canadian history taught to many of us in grade school details the romance of the first pioneers to settle what is now known as Canada. We learned about the ways they lived with little technology and how early settlers lived in harmony with Indigenous peoples. Many of us now see the faults in these narratives once we have educated ourselves about the atrocities of colonialism, the genocide of Indigenous peoples, and the blatant theft of their land. These issues with colonialism are still prevalent in today’s society with many Indigenous, Métis, and Inuit peoples still dealing with the negative implications of white settlers’ ancestors.
However, often ignored are the first non-white, non-Catholic settlers that came to Canada. This country is often applauded in the international arena for its diverse communities, but only recently has it been this way. Countless changes to immigration policy over the 20th century have allowed us to open our country up, but we still have a long way to go before we can be accurately described as such an inclusive and diverse place to live. Despite our failures, Canada has managed to attract settlers from virtually every religion and ethnicity, yet their experiences and histories are rarely represented and told.
This article aims to discuss the experiences of some of the first Muslim settlers in Canada. The information from this article mostly comes from Dr. Murray Hogben’s talk entitled Muslim Histories in Kingston: A Discussion with Dr. Murray Hogben. Here he spoke about his book, Minarets on the Horizon: Muslim Pioneers in Canada which details the experiences of some of the first Muslim settlers in Canada.
One of the moderators of the talk, Siobhana Xavier, suggested that the first Muslims to arrive in Canada were probably slaves from North Africa. Unfortunately, this theory cannot be proven because of the lack of surviving documentation about slaves coming to the “New World”. However, Dr. Hogben’s research reveals that the first documented handful of Muslim settlers arrived in the 1850s and came from Syria and Lebanon. He theorizes that they came to Canada to avoid the Ottoman Empire’s military draft, search for alternative work, and eventually return to Syria and Lebanon having provided for their families. Dr. Hogben believes that many of the first Muslim settlers arrived in Canada for short periods of time. However, these patterns of migration were disrupted when Muslim women settled in Canada and married older men. Once their husbands died, these women stayed in Canada and raised children, increasing the Muslim population and creating a community of settlers, most notably in Edmonton, Alberta. These women were crucial to the creation of a Muslim community in Canada, especially in the creation of the Al-Rashid Mosque, located in Edmonton. Dr. Hogben along with the moderators of the talk expressed a great deal of appreciation for Muslim women and their efforts to create a Muslim community in Canada.
Dr. Hogben separates Muslim migration to Canada into two parts: pre-1967, and post-1967. This year is significant because new immigration criteria and legislation were introduced. The racial quotas that were previously in place for determining how many immigrants of a certain minority would be allowed into the country were abolished and replaced with a points system that was supposed to determine the “success” of a settler in Canada. Race, nationality, and colour as factors for determining immigration status were replaced with work skills, language ability, education levels and family connections. Although there were often discrepancies in the immigration process, and this system was not free of racism, it still allowed for an increase in ethnic and religious minorities to enter the country.
Hogben informs us that after this legislation was passed, the barriers to immigration into Canada were greatly decreased for Muslim settlers because many of them were not white presenting. The abolition of racial quotas and systemic preference for immigrants entering Canada to come from the United States and Britain allowed for a more diverse population to settle in our country. Despite these changes, Hogben reports that many Muslim settlers were still discriminated against within civil society because of their skin colour, clothing, and cultural practices. Islamophobia, as many of us can assume, did not start after the 1967 immigration threshold, as there are countless stories of early Muslim settlers experiencing xenophobic actions from missionaries and community members alike.
He also revealed that many white Catholic settlers in the early 1900s feared Muslims because of the Ottoman Empire’s reputation as violent warlords. Though the Ottoman Empire did have strong military tacticians and a successful economy, the fear many Catholic settlers had for them was rooted in Islamophobia, racism, and xenophobia. Additionally, Hogben revealed that there were reports of Muslim Internment Camps created to hold Muslim settlers during the first World War. The creation of these reported camps was probably related to the Ottoman Empire’s alliance with Germany; no Muslim Canadians were known to be involved with Germany other than the twenty-two soldiers that fought for Canada during the war. Unfortunately, the records for these internment camps were reportedly burned by the Canadian government, so the stories of survivors cannot be backed up with documentation.
In conclusion, there is a great deal of Canadian history that has yet to be explored. Non-white, non-Catholic settlers have had their stories ignored for centuries because of explicit and implicit racism combined with an overall whitewashing of history. The true diversity of experiences in our country will only be revealed through further research from people like Dr. Hogben and his contemporaries. Even though this work is difficult and time-consuming, it is worthwhile to tell these stories to prevent history from repeating itself. White settlers must understand the destruction and harm caused by the actions of their ancestors. The stories of Muslim settlers in Canada are truly only a fraction of the undocumented historical experiences that have been ignored, however, the work Dr. Hogben and his contemporaries are doing is crucial to the retelling of Canadian history. The diversity that exists in our country today should be celebrated by having these histories told instead of ignored.