Muslims in the Canadian Mosaic By Zohra Husaini. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Muslim Research Foundation, 1990, 132 pp.

Abstract

This book is a focused study on the Muslims in Canada with special teference
to Muslims in the pmvince of Alberta. The study is both quantitative
(it consists of the qudonnaire responses of 115 participants in Alberta) and
qualitative (it develops discussions relevant to Canadian Muslims in general).
One of the aims of the study is to highlight the extreme diversity of Muslims
in Canada while showing that all of them have something very basic in
common: their Islamic ideals. This diversity is adequately illustrated by detailing
their multiple ethnicities and home countries, their different occupations,
and their internal variations in identifying with Islam. The study further emphasizes this diversity is being positively integrated into mainstream Canadian society,
contributing to it while preserving certain special traits. The discussion
of how Muslims in Alberta maintain extensive links With Muslim lands
as regads trade and socioreligious and humanitarian concerns is especially impressive.
This study is more descriptive than analytical. It does not answer the question
of how integration is possible without losing the essence of Islam. In the
brief conceptual framework, the dynamics between religion and ethnicity is not
as clear, i.e., which subsumes the other? In general, the study is very helpful
to those who do not know much about Muslims in Canada. It also raises points
that can help Muslims better present themselves collectively.