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Contemporary Challenges of Islamic Identity in Canada Saadman Ahmed

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Contemporary Challenges of Islamic Identity in Canada Saadman Ahmed Document generated on 10/02/2021 7:56 a.m. Journal of the Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada Le Journal de la Société pour l'étude de l'architecture au Canada Contemporary Challenges of Islamic Identity in Canada Saadman Ahmed Chercheurs en émergence Emerging Scholars Volume 45, Number 2, 2020 URI: https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1076509ar DOI: https://doi.org/10.7202/1076509ar See table of contents Publisher(s) SSAC-SEAC ISSN 2563-8696 (digital) Explore this journal Cite this article Ahmed, S. (2020). Contemporary Challenges of Islamic Identity in Canada. Journal of the Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada / Le Journal de la Société pour l'étude de l'architecture au Canada, 45(2), 4–14. https://doi.org/10.7202/1076509ar © SSAC-SEAC, 2021 This document is protected by copyright law. Use of the services of Érudit (including reproduction) is subject to its terms and conditions, which can be viewed online. https://apropos.erudit.org/en/users/policy-on-use/ This article is disseminated and preserved by Érudit. Érudit is a non-profit inter-university consortium of the Université de Montréal, Université Laval, and the Université du Québec à Montréal. Its mission is to promote and disseminate research. https://www.erudit.org/en/ ESSAY | ESSAI 2020 CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES OF ISLAMIC IDENTITY IN CANADA SAADMAN AHMED is currently pursuing his > SAADMAN AHMED Master’s in Architecture at the University of Waterloo (School of Architecture). Since immigrating from Bangladesh to Toronto, over ten years ago, he has been very passionate about art and culture, which eventually led him to pursue A PROBLEM OF FORM architecture as a career. He had the opportunity AND FUNCTION to travel and work in several different countries, new mosque would not only lead and to be exposed to diverse styles of architecture A to traffic and noise issues but it and people from many different cultures. Having would also lead to “rape, villainy, and lived as both a Bengali-Muslim and a Canadian- destruction of Canadian values”—these Muslim, he started to understand the depth of were the types of claims which Mayor his own religion from a unique perspective and Bonnie Crombie of Mississauga had its influence on architecture, and therefore, he to fight against at a 2015 City Council dedicated himself to study and explore the Islamic meeting for a new mosque proposal.1 world in Canada as part of his master’s research. Several mosques in recent times have also encountered bruising opposition from the public, where cultural and political resistance are often disguised as poten- tial increase in traffic volume and parking requirements.2 Since the early twentieth century, the mosque has been one of the most visible markers of Islam in the West. As a distinct and historic structure, the mosque is central to Muslim religious and cultural life in Canada and occupies a critical place in the practice and propa- gation of Islam. It has long served the Muslims as an important religious insti- tution, a place for worship, solace, and religious instruction. Canadian mosques have also become places where Muslims can gather and engage in non-religious services and activities such as daycare, job networking, gym, and Friday school for youth. However, considering that many of these mosques exist within hostile environments, along with the economic and sociocultural struggles of the Muslim diaspora, the mosque is becoming a dif- ficult platform for Muslims to represent their culture and religion both architec- turally and socially. Purpose-built mosques with their overtly traditional Islamic architecture FIG. 1. AL RASHID MOSQUE, EDMONTON, 1938. | COURTESY OF AL RASHID MOSQUE, [HTTPS://ALRASHIDMOSQUE.CA/OUR-STORY/], ACCESSED MARCH 31, 2020. JSSAC | JSÉAC 45 > No 2 > 2020 > 4-14 4 MSAADMANARC GRI GANONHMED AND > J ESSICAESSAY |M ESSAIACE > FOREWORD | AVANT-PROPOS induce angry sentiments from those men with physical architectural barriers.4 culture? How can architectural design who are unaccustomed to their aesthe- Muslim youth, converts, and multicultu- encourage inclusivity instead of segre- tics, historical and religious significance. ral worshippers also eschew traditional gation? How can a mosque be designed Furthermore, their architectural forms Islamic institutions, because most of the to demonstrate a sense of identity and attempt to directly replicate historical mosques are dominated by one specific belonging? models, such as implementing domes, ethnic group who focuses their teachings minarets and arabesque, for the sake of and programs toward a certain traditional ISLAM IN CANADIAN HISTORY identity. Although meanings linked to culture or a particular age group—usually such architectural forms evoke memo- the elder generation.5 In his 2004 essay, “Islamic Architecture ries, they also have the potential to dis- as a Field of Historical Enquiry,” Nasser courage architectural innovation as well The objective of this essay is to examine Rabbat points out that until recently, as become exotic or foreign within the and document how primarily contempo- Islamic architecture has been “among Canadian urban landscape. The fore- rary mosques straddle notions of tradi- the least theoretically developed areas going instances of conflicts at the city tional architectural forms, and how the of enquiry in the field of architecture.”6 council meetings are, however, not the architecture of the mosque is shaped by Many of the pioneering historians, archi- only struggles that Muslims experience; the internal sociopolitical structure of the tects, artists, and draftsmen in the field repurposed mosques adapted in existing communities within the realities of urban, were of European descent whose histo- buildings also reflect the deprived socioe- non-Islamic, and often antagonistic envi- rical research and studies were woven conomic realities of the current diaspo- ronments. This essay will investigate the into the fabric of European knowledge ric Muslim communities and they come use, interpretation, and changing nature of Islam.7 As for Islam in Canada, very to represent the bulk of Islamic sacred of both purpose-built and repurposed little has been documented in the history spaces in Canada.3 Repurposed mosques mosques in the Greater Toronto Area of Muslim diaspora and construction of are properties such as former offices, (GTA). It will examine two fundamen- mosques affecting the growth of urban grocery stores, and warehouses, that are tal issues revolving around the current and suburban cities and neighbourhoods.8 acquired cheaply at auctions as the result state of the Islamic institutions: first, the of bank foreclosures or estate sales. These growing struggle of Muslims to find a Established in 1938, the Al-Rashid mosque mosques show the ways in which immi- contemporary aesthetic expression for in Edmonton, AB, was the very first Islamic grant Muslims must adapt and integrate purpose-built and repurposed mosques marker in Canada, serving about seven their ritual and communal spaces given that embody a Canadian identity—one hundred Muslims in its neighbourhood.9 their underprivileged financial situation. that represents and respects the culture As the Muslim population started growing While the growth of repurposed mosques and built environment of Canada’s urban, and spreading across the country, several arises from the desperate needs of suburban, and natural settings; second, other major cities saw the growth of both Muslims for functional and cost-effective investigating the sociopolitical system purpose-built and repurposed mosques spaces, their exterior identity is camou- within the Muslim communities them- in their urban areas, including Toronto’s flaged behind the façades of their for- selves—one that dictates the increa- first mosque which was built in 1961 in mer structures, and their interior spaces sing alienation of women, youth, and a renovated storefront at 3047 Dundas are chaotic and unsuitable for sacred and converts, in the implied and promulgated Street West. Serving a small community secular functions due to their temporal conventions of sex and ethnic segregation around the neighbourhood, the store- and grassroots nature. Moreover, ano- in mosques. This essay will also investigate front mosque was used by members from ther important underlying issue in both specific examples of mosques in the GTA various cultures ranging from Pakistan, types of mosques is the need for refor- and raise key questions such as: How can India, Bosnia, Albania, Turkey, and Egypt. mation in the degrading social structure a religious institution, for example the Named as Mosque One by some of the of the Muslim communities themselves. Islamic mosque, communicate its mission early pioneers who established the ins- Movements such as the first Women’s and values to an increasingly secular and titution, the members of the mosque Mosque of Canada and documentary antagonistic society? What is the value represented a culture where diversity was films such as Unmosqued illustrate the of architectural beauty and memory in tolerated, moderation was promoted, segregation methods used by mosque purpose-built and repurposed mosques and women played a key role in fundrai- authorities to isolate Muslim women from and how can it be represented in today’s sing, managing operations, and praying JSSAC | JSÉAC 45 > No 2 > 2020 5 MSAADMANARC GRI GANONHMED AND > J ESSICAESSAY |M ESSAIACE > FOREWORD | AVANT-PROPOS stands to deliver sermons. The use of a minbar is especially important before and
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