Muslims a powerful political force

The coming days will mark the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, a period of fasting and spiritual growth that is one of Islam’s five pillars. As in years past, nearly two million Canadian Muslims will gather nightly with family and friends to break fast, give thanks and reflect on how to awaken themselves spiritually.

This Ramadan, however, many of the dinner table conversations are also likely to focus on a political awakening. With war raging in the Middle East and an eye to federal and provincial elections, Canadian Muslims have discovered their voice, a development that politicians ignore at their peril.

Muslims are not a monolithic group, neither ethnically nor ideologically. They hail from countries as far-flung as India, Somalia and Bosnia. Visit any Canadian mosque and you are likely to hear a variety of languages, from Farsi to Turkish to Malay. Some Muslims are secular and liberal in their outlook, while others adopt a more socially conservative approach to life.

Yet one thing that appears to unite most across ethnicity and ideology is sympathy for the plight of Palestinians. While there isn’t much publicly available research into the attitudes of Canadian Muslims, the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) surveyed 525 selfidentifying American Muslims in May and June of 2022 and such a survey done in Canada would likely yield similar results.

The CAIR survey found that 91 per cent described the occupation of Palestinian territories by Israel as a top foreign policy issue, with a further 89 per cent of respondents saying that American foreign policy was tilted too far toward Israel.

We recently saw this sentiment deliver real-world political consequences for U.S. President Biden when over 100,000 Michigan Democrats marked “uncommitted” on their primary ballot rather than support the incumbent after an organized campaign by Arab American groups.

As significant as this is, it’s worth pointing out that Muslims represent only about 2.5 per cent of Michigan’s population. As of the 2021 census, that number is double in Canada (five per cent) and even higher in the electorally significant Greater Toronto (10 per cent) and Montreal (nine per cent) areas.

Since 2015, the Canadian Muslim Vote — a national, non-partisan organization aiming to increase civic engagement and education within the Islamic community — has worked to increase Muslim turnout in three federal and two Ontario elections.

All this adds up to the fact that Canadian Muslims now represent a significant political force, a fact that some in Canada’s political class have been slow to recognize.

But with this growing significance comes responsibility:

■ It is a responsibility to recognize that Canada is a liberal democracy with diverse viewpoints, some of which don’t always align with the majority of Canadian Muslims.

■ It is a responsibility to recognize that just as it is wrong to equate sympathy for the Palestinian cause with support for Hamas, it is wrong for protesters to target Jewish neighbourhoods, schools, and synagogues.

■ And finally, it’s a responsibility to recognize that proper understanding between communities comes through dialogue, not ultimatums. There should be no litmus tests for elected officials wishing to address Muslim congregations. Those with divergent opinions should be engaged, not frozen out.

Canada has come a long way since the post-9/11 explosion of Islamophobia. While we are by no means a utopia of tolerance, there are now more than a dozen members of Parliament of Muslim faith across several parties.

In recent years, Canada has had Muslim ministers of transportation, immigration, international development, gender equity, economic development, democratic institutions and justice. Ontario recently saw its first Muslim attorney general seek the leadership of a significant provincial party.

Canada’s Muslim community will only increase in size over the coming years. This is a reality that our political elite cannot ignore. Whether this reality leads to further community integration into mainstream politics will depend on the words and actions of both community leaders and Canada’s mainstream political parties in the months and years ahead.

But one thing is clear: Canada’s Muslims have found their political voice.