Demographic traits
The 2001 census indicated that the Muslim pop-
ulation in Canada stood at 569,645, representing 2
percent of the Canadian population, rendering
Islam the largest non-Christian religion in the
country (Husaini 1999, 15–16). This represented a
remarkable growth since 1970 when the Muslim
population stood at only 33,370. By far the largest
element in this growth is extensive immigration,
which has been supplemented by relatively high rates
of fertility and to some lesser degree by conversion.
The Canadian Muslim population is highly
diverse and in many ways mirrors the Muslim
world. Immigrants and refugees have come from
virtually all parts of the Muslim world and from
diaspora communities in the Caribbean, Africa,
and Europe. The largest ethnoracial groups are
South Asian (42.1 percent) and Arab (22.8 percent)
in origin. In addition, large numbers of refugees
have come in the last two decades from Iran,
Afghanistan, and Somalia. Further adding to the
mix is the presence of representatives from virtually
all major doctrinal schools and offshoots of Islam
including various strands of both the major Sunnì
and Shì≠ìgroups. A variety of orientations to Islam
are also notable in the Canadian Muslim popula-
tion. Migrants positively disposed to traditional
Islamic norms have come from many countries,
alongside those who seem secular and indifferent,
some of whom have fled political and cultural
forms of Islamic expression.
Muslims in Canada are primarily resident in
urban centers across the vast country. The largest
concentration is to be found in the greater Toronto
area where 254,110 Muslims lived in 2001. Toronto
alone had 44 percent of the Canadian Muslim pop-
ulation. The significant concentration of Muslims
in cities has resulted in many outward signs of
Muslim religious and cultural life. In Montreal,
and in particular in Toronto, mosques, Muslim reli-
gious schools and halal restaurants and food stores
are now noticeable. Forms of traditional Muslim
attire, especially the ™ijàb(headcover), are also
now commonly observed.
The diversity of the Muslim community has con-
tributed to a highly decentralized and uncoordi-
nated structure of community involvement and
representation. A number of national organiza-
tions exist, but most Muslims are undoubtedly
more connected to their local mosques and com-
munity organizations. Among the more significant
Muslim organizations for women is the Canadian
Council of Muslim Women, a nationwide organi-
zation founded in 1982, which has been active in
canada 113organizing conferences and seminars and fostering
research and literature about Muslim women in
Canada.Issues of identity
Literature concentrating specifically on Muslim
women in Canada is just emerging. Recent contri-
butions in this area have focused attention on the
experience of Muslim women adapting to life in
Canada (Hoodfar 2003, Khan 2002, McDonough
2003, Meshal 2003, Zaman 1999). These contri-
butions emphasize that Muslim women are subject
to competing prescriptions emerging from main-
stream society and from Muslim communities.
They demonstrate how identity is negotiated for a
number of Muslim women in Canada in response
to factors of normative Islamic teachings, gender,
race, ethnicity, migration, and minority status,
amidst the apparent polarity of Islam and the West.
Diversity and variety is a common theme emerging
from each of these contributions, as it is clear that
Muslim women in Canada self identify in a vast
number of complex ways. This diversity in self-
identification is mirrored in the diversity of ways in
which Muslim women live in Canada. Many
Muslim women live in traditional role structures
within the home while large numbers are involved
in a number of activities outside the home. While
the majority of Muslim women in Canada do not
wear ™ijàb an increasing number are doing so
(Meshal 2003). Observance of the ™ijàbhas been
cited as a key factor in discrimination and harass-
ment of Muslim women seeking employment (Per-
sad 2002).Issues of domestic violence
Mainstream Canadian media frequently focus
attention on the presence in some Muslim societies
of specific forms of domestic violence often associ-
ated with Muslim culture including, most signifi-
cantly, forced marriage, honor crimes, and female
genital mutilation. However, unlike well-publi-
cized situations in Muslim communities in Europe
and the United States, no concrete examples of these
types of domestic violence occurring in Canada
have arisen in scholarly or popular media reports.
Arranged or semi-arranged marriages remain the
norm in most immigrant Muslim families, in both
first and second generations, but no issues of com-
pulsion have generally been raised (Hogben 1991,
Qureshi 1991). Undoubtedly the social and sexual
activity of most Muslim women remains signifi-
cantly constrained relative to norms in mainstream
Canadian society, but indications of honor-based