Discrimination Continues to Plague Our Community
By Malika Harris
Sep/Oct 2024
The Black Canadian Muslim organization (BCM) was formed during the Covid pandemic by a handful of community members who realized that the larger Muslim community was struggling to process the impact of systemic racism on our modern-day society, the same system that made all of us eyewitnesses to the police brutality in the U.S. that killed George Floyd.
It was extremely painful to hear some Muslim community leaders suggest that this racially based issue had nothing to do with our community. This rhetoric was another daunting reminder of why it is important to have Black Muslim representation within the leadership of our larger community. This reality motivated us to create an organization that would strive to fulfill the spiritual, social, and educational needs of the Black Canadian Muslim community, in the hope of helping us reconnect and reclaim our community’s rightful place within the folds of Islam.
From the very dawn of Islam, we see its foundation built on an inclusive framework, one that united humanity and called all people to unite under one faith. When Prophet Muhammad (salla Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) was ostracized by the Meccan tribes he was forced to send most of the small community of Muslims that existed at the time away to escape. He turned to an African civilization for support. The Prophet showed no hesitation or any of the prejudice towards Black people that is still so visible among Muslims today. Instead, he viewed the people of Abyssinia (modern-day Ethiopia) as allies, fellow monotheists, who worshiped One God and strove to follow the teachings of Prophet ‘Isa (‘alayhi as salam).
The Prophet’s demonstration of racial inclusivity is what facilitated this long standing and thriving relationship between Africa and Islam that continues to exist until today.
Islam’s position on racial equality is crystal clear. “O humanity, We have created you male and female, and appointed you races and tribes, that you may know one another. Surely the noblest among you in the sight of God is the most God-fearing of you. God is All-knowing, All-aware” (Quran 49:13).
Black Canadian Muslims
This is why Black Canadian Muslims are often caught off guard when they interact with Muslims who outwardly acknowledge the Prophet’s example, while simultaneously submitting to cultural norms that dilute Islamic ideals and leave minimal room for the tangible practice of Islam’s teachings regarding this issue.
For the most part, this experience extends to both Black Muslim’s reverts who returned to Islam in the last half century and their offspring, as well as those families who can trace their lineage back to early Islam. However, the descendants of the enslaved Africans whose ancestors were brought to the West via the trans-Atlantic slave trade who face a unique set of challenges because their ancestral identity was stripped away, who embraced Islam and the hope to join a community that practices and promotes anti-racism where they can truly belong. One can imagine the internal conflict they endure as their newfound community continues to marginalize them. Especially when they realize that the longstanding contributions of Muslims who looked like them are often neither valued nor celebrated.
These realities motivated the formation of an organization that is rooted in Islamic ideology while striving to serve this group’s complex needs because of historical slavery and ongoing systemic racism. Most BCM members are individuals who reverted to Islam in the 1960s and 70s, as well as their children and grandchildren who they have strived to pass their love of Islam to. BCM’s main goal was to create a safe space in which Black Muslim families, especially our youth, could develop a connection as Muslims while countering the rejection they often face in the larger community.
People often ask, “Why create a Muslim organization that focuses on one race?”
The reality is that the Western Muslim Community has been dividing itself into culturally based organizations for the last three decades. As Muslims, we know that even though specific organizations may give themselves a culturally or racially neutral name, specific cultural groups often run certain mosques and organizations and most often cater to their cultural community’s needs. This practice, unfortunately, marginalizes some minority groups. This was a common experience expressed by many Black Muslims. Which is why we felt it was necessary to form a community group that strives to unite individuals, and families who share similar lived experiences.
Over the last three years, we’ve managed to provide family, youth and children’s programs that serve our specific needs. For example, our annual BBQ and Eid celebrations, which have been attended by 100 or more Black Muslim participants. many of whom reverted 50+ years ago and their families as well as more recent reverts to Islam.
The intention was never to divide, but to serve a marginalized group, until the larger community understands the value of including Black Muslims. The ideal has always been to see our larger Muslim community return to our Prophet’s example: where Muslims of all races, creeds and cultures feel respected, included and valued.
Malika Harris is the co-founder of the Black Canadian Muslim organization in Toronto, Ontario.
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