Islam and Islamophobia Resources for Educators (2021)

Impact Analysis of Muslim Organizations (2021)

Challenges Facing Muslim Youth in Canada (2019)

In Canada, 2021 marked the 50th anniversary of the adoption of multiculturalism as a federal policy. The diversity of the four articles in this volume demonstrates the myriad of ways in which multiculturalism informs and impacts Muslim life and ways of being in Canada. As a deeply fraught, yet central tenet of Canadian national narratives, multiculturalism requires close and critical attention from many vantage points. Muslim perspectives on multiculturalism are particularly telling, as Islam and Muslims so frequently find themselves at the margins or fractures of multiculturalism – sometimes with deeply harmful consequences. Yet it is not always so dire. As some of our authors demonstrate, Muslim ways of interacting with, participating in and resisting multiculturalism also show a way forward towards a more truly pluralistic society.

Within traditional Islamic discourses, there is not necessarily a term for group identity as it would be understood in a Western sense today; rather, Islamic concepts of collective identity can be understood in (but not limited to) the terms of Ummah (or the global community of Muslims connected by belief, law and practice) and fard ul kifayah, or community responsibility and duty. In fact, it could be argued that the normative Islamic worldview and ethos is one of holistic communality and relationships in a way that it is challenging for more individualized ideologies and societies to conceptualize. Ultimately, the social aspect of this requires that we parse community identity and experiences according to the situated places in which they occur and which they give life to/are given life by. The spirit of community in many Muslim locales and globally, however, has been shaken and even fragmented by forces of colonialism, neo-liberalism and others such that a sense of community identity, experience and relationality are, at best, muted and, at worst, absent. This process, of course, is neither consistent, nor linear and can fluctuate while being dependent on a range of factors including time, place, relationships, and so forth. With these ideas in mind, this volume covers articles around knowledge production about Muslims and Islam in Canada, relationship-building and space-making, conversion to Islam, and group identifying factors.

Mohadi, Mawloud, Normative Islamic Conceptualizations of Families and Kinship Through Maqasid Perspectives: A Comprehensive Literature Study – Malaysian Journal of Syariah and Law, Vol. 11(2), December 2023, pp. 290-309.

Alizai, Hassina. (2023). European Approaches to Stopping Islamophobia are Inadequate: Lessons for Canadians Combating Anti-Muslim Racism and Hatred. Journal of Hate Studies, 18(1), 63– 79. DOI: https://doi.org/10.33972/jhs.219 

Trends and Themes in the Study of Muslims in Canada: A Composite Picture of  Diverse Set of Communities (Literature Review) by Nakita Valerio (2022)

Muslim Organizations in Canada Policy Paper: Recommendations for Canadian Muslim Organizations Based on a Composite Picture Study by Fatima Chakroun is a companion policy piece to the full research paper. (2022)

“Lessons from Examining Canadian Muslim Youth Challenges and Pathways to Resilience" by Khaled Al Qazzaz and Nakita Valerio is a companion policy piece to two full study articles (publication forthcoming).  (2020)

Review of Al Rashid Mosque: Building Canadian Muslim Communities (E.Waugh) for Canadian Ethnic Studies Journal by Nakita Valerio (2020)