FINDING INSPIRATION AT ISNA-CANADA’S ANNUAL CONVENTION
Staff Writer, Ottawa Muslim Network

As the buses pulled out from the mosque parking lot in the pale dawn, close to a hundred Ottawa Muslims settled in for the long ride to Toronto.

Many of the travelers were young people, proudly displaying their Islam; the girls wore colourful scarves while many of the boys wore caps on their heads. They represented the future of Islam in Canada – the future that would be the focus of the 28^th annual Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) convention, held on May 18, 2002.

The elders smiled widely at them and seemed as eager as they were to get there.

It was an uneventful ride.

Slightly wrinkled and a little weary, they tumbled off the buses and into the Toronto Congress Centre where close to 5,000 of their brothers and sisters had gathered from across Canada.

One of the first images to greet them was a photograph of Ottawa’s main mosque on the cover of the ISNA magazine, Islamic Horizons. The caption which accompanied it read: "A century of Islam in Canada."

It was a special edition of the magazine which almost exclusively focused on Muslims in Canada.

But before the brothers and sisters from Ottawa could leaf through it and glimpse the photos of well-known Ottawa sites and people and read the well-researched articles, most made their way to the first session which had already begun.

The conference theme was "Muslims for Peace and Justice" and the following verse from the Holy Quran set the tone beautifully:

"O you who believe! Be ever steady in your devotion to Allah, bearing witness to the truth and never let hatred of others lead you to deviate from justice." (Qur'an 5:8)  From this verse, a number of themes were taken and used as threads, to be woven throughout the various sessions.

And the result was a remarkable web of thought and analysis woven over the span of two days by some of the most articulate Muslim scholars from around the world.

They focused on the role of Muslims in Canada, concepts of peace and justice in Islam and most importantly, how this relates to the relationship with the Creator, Allah (Glory be to Him, the Exalted)

Abd El Rasheed Brown, a South African scholar, helped to kick off the discussions.

He asked the audience to think about the current situation of the Muslim ummah (world-wide community) and try to understand why there was so much suffering. He encouraged people to look inwards, rather than lay blame at anyone else’s doorstep. He explained that by being strong Muslims in one’s own environment, Muslims can fight for justice both in their own communities and abroad.

"Today, we are not here to blame the West, Zionist Jews or Israeli’s, but to ask ourselves how we have been complicit in maintaining the status quo.

"How can Muslims establish themselves? By upholding principles of peace and justice. (We must ask ourselves) how can we involve everyone in engendering a process that will end in an understanding of Islam?"

And Canadians are willing to understand, or at least tolerate, Islam, pointed out Dr. Ingrid Mattson, current vice president of ISNA and professor at the Hartford Seminary.

"(We can help this society) by being witness to an alternative way of living. We need a sense of deep empathy with the people we are trying to communicate with. Sometimes people build up walls against non-Muslims," she said.

But while some people may argue that a kind of seclusion is the only way to protect one’s faith, Mattson said she found that notion contradictory to the principles of Islam.

"When I look at the Qur'an and Sunnah (teachings and practice of the Prophet Muhammad) holistically, I see a clear model. We have allegiance to the Muslim community, but we also belong to the community of believing Jews and Christians and even with the unbelievers. We are still part of the human race. Allah, Glory be to Him the Exalted,  gave dignity to every child of Adam. That is another circle of community we belong to. Everyone has rights to food, shelter and medical treatment. These are rights for every human laid out in the Shariah (Islamic law)," she explained.

And though Canada’s history has dark periods where injustices were committed to certain peoples, like the Native population, Mattson said she believed that Canada remains a country where Muslims can flourish.

Tarek Ramadan

A place where Muslims should not only flourish but should be shining examples of the traditions of our Deen (way of life), added Dr. Tariq Ramadan, professor of philosophy at the University of Geneva in Switzerland and the author of over a dozen books on Islam.

"We have to face the reality of our presence, our role within this world," he began.
 

"Let me start with some very simple statements. Is it lawful to remain here? Yes, we know it is halal (lawful) . . . but with conditions. First, we have to remain Muslims. We have to stick with the same very deep principles."

Ramadan pointed out that within the Muslim community there is racism and a divide between the Islamic rich and poor which should not be tolerated. Muslims have to do as they say and ensure that they take care of each other.

Then, they must look outward and recognize that instead of using concepts like Dar-ul-Islam (Area of Islam) or Dar-ul-Harb (Area of war), concepts that were used to describe the world in earlier times, Muslims should think of the West as Dar-ul-Shahada (Area of Witness).

"We are free to live as Muslims in the West so we need to go against the binary vision of the world."

And Muslims shouldn’t be satisfied with simply practicing their faith and going about their business, he said. They must interact with the society on various levels.

"We don’t only want a peaceful co-existence, we want a pro-active co-existence. We have to give something, its not only to protect ourselves.

"We are in a multi-cultural model. Yes, we are in a minority but we have a universal message with universal values . . . there is a common rationality and we must know how to speak."

And once Muslims know what they want to say, they should say it to the media, said Riad Saloojee, executive director of CAIR-Canada.

He was joined by Faisul Kutty of the Canadian Muslim Civil Liberties Association to explain how to put out the right messages.

"We have to learn the skills," explained Saloojee. "Before a scholar gives a fatwa, they give the benefits and harms. Before we engage the media, we have to weigh the harms and benefits.

"Whatever we do should be based on "adl" or fairness," he added.

Saloojee and Kutty emphasized the need for Muslims to write letters to the editor, opinion pieces and to be politically aware.

But unless one does this as a form of worship or uboodeyah, there is little point in doing it, explained Saloojee.

Sheikh Mokhtar Maghraoui reminded the attendees that the most important act of worship is Salaat. (He added that salaat cannot be translated to prayer because prayer means making du'a. There is no equivalent to salaat in any other culture/belief.)

"The salaat is the umbilical chord between you and Allah," he said. "It is the first thing we will be asked about on the Day of Judgement," he added.

Maghraoui also shared some stories of the people around the Prophet Muhammad, (May Peace and Blessings be Upon Him), to serve as examples that Muslims should follow.

The Prophet’s own daughter, Fatima, (May Allah Be Pleased with her), was too shy to ask for assistance from her father despite being very poor and struggling with her husband. It was a reminder that Islam was built on true struggle and sacrifice and it is these concepts that Muslims need to remember whenever they face hardship.

And though September 11 and what has followed has proven to be a difficult time for Muslims, the true character of Islam can shine through, argued Abdur Rehman Malik, a well-known Toronto activist.

He described a campaign that was undertaken in Toronto called "Days of Mercy" where Muslims were encouraged to reach out and give gifts to their neighbours during the month of Ramadan.

It proved to be a huge success with Muslims getting to know the people around them.

"Take care of your neighbours," said Malik. "This is the Sunnah (tradition of the Prophet)."

Malik helped wrap up the convention by encouraging people to look to the future.

"Canada is a work in progress. A nation that is constantly re-examining itself. We need to ask ourselves: what will Islam look like in 20 years? We need to envision the kind of community we want.

"…Muslims are visionaries by practice."

At the end of the conference, the Ottawa Muslims piled back on the buses with their own individual visions of what Islam would look like in the future.

And watching them as they listened to Qur'an on the way back to Ottawa, some mouthing the words, one can say the future looks promising.

A brief note from the writer: Inspired by Abdur Rehman’s talk about our duty to our neighbours, I decided to go over and talk with my own neighbour. And, Subhana’Allah, she told me that she had been hoping to speak to me because her daughter wants to learn about Islam for a school project. Allahu Akbar.

.© Copyright 2002 Ottawa Muslim Network

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