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Albanian founder and presi-dent of the Muslim Society ofToronto. Assim, a quiet anddedicated man who used totell amazing stories of beingamong revolutionaries in Al-bania, is described by com-patriot and vice presidentBedri Bylykbashi as a “veryhonest man, [who] wasworking with the heart …only for Muslim faith.”

To transform the shop intoa mosque required basic re-pairs, such as fixing a leakingroof, and many other renova-tions. Hasan Karachi provid-

An oral historyproject undertakenby the Toronto-based TessellateInstitute uncoversan untold chapterof the history ofCanadian Muslims.

By Aziza Hirsi and Katherine Bullock

PHOTOGRAPH COPYRIGHT DR. RAHMAN SYED, COURTESY TTI

TThe Jami Mosque was not, asmany people assume, Toron-to’s first mosque. In fact, thathonor belongs to an oldleather shop that was pur-chased by the Muslim Societyof Toronto in 1961 and trans-formed into the Dundas StreetMosque by a small hard-working team of Muslims.

This fact was discoveredthrough an oral history pro-ject undertaken by the Toron-to-based Tessellate Institute(tessellateinstitute.com) dur-ing the summer of 2009. Thestory of this mosque and thecommunity that sustained it isan untold chapter of the his-tory of Canadian Muslims —a history that itself liescloaked in obscurity. ImaanCommunications, whichfilmed and edited the project,has created an open accesswebsite (mosqueone.com)that contains video clips ofthe founders as well as photo-graphic and legal documents.Kathleen Wynne, then On-tario’s Minister of Education,speaking at the web launchlast Nov. 2009, said that theonline archive serves as an“amazing educational re-source.” The oral historyproject was funded by TheOlive Tree Foundation (olivetreefoundation.ca) andcosponsored by the Interna-tional Development & ReliefFoundation (idrf.com).

By 1968 the communityneeded more space, and sothe shop was sold and themosque moved to an oldchurch, renamed JamiMosque, from which the leg-end of it being the city’s firstmosque sprang.

The first mosque was situ-

TORONTO’S FORGOTTEN

First Mosqueated in one of Toronto’s busi-ness areas. As Talat Muinud-din (a member) noted: “Peo-ple didn’t have cars, and thelocation [of the mosque] was[ideal] … so that they couldcome by streetcar and buses.”

Toronto’s diverse culturaland religious population wasreflected in this original com-munity. Its members camefrom Albania, Bangladesh,Egypt, India, Iraq, Pakistan,Turkey, the former Yu-goslavia, and even a fewWhite converts. The drivingforce was Regip Assim, the

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ed the paint, and MustafaDjukic helped retile the roof.Together they “worked [for]almost two years without anypay,” as a form of sadaqah.Soon the place was trans-formed into a home awayfrom home for the rapidlygrowing number of Muslims,a place that helped themovercome homesickness andisolation and provided soli-darity, networking, job assis-tance, and long-lastingfriendships. The mosquefunctioned as a place ofprayer, social and education-al gatherings, Eid dinners,and a Sunday Islamic Schoolfor children.

The community’s strongbonds and tight-knit atmos-phere encouraged Dr. FuadSahin and his wife Solnaz tomake the one-hour journeyfrom Hamilton to Torontoevery Sunday just to be partof it. Solnaz remembers how

Muslims from all differentbackgrounds: “I tell you I wasso thrilled, especially for thefirst time in my life. I wasstanding in the row of salat al-dhuhr. There was a whiteperson, black person, brownperson, in my — in my life-time I had never come acrossa thing like that … I tell you,literally, I remember therewere teardrops in my eyes be-cause of this kind of situa-tion…with a white Muslimand a black Muslim standingin the same row with — withme. It was amazing, it wasamazing.”

Among the pioneers werewomen who played signifi-

cant roles in fundraising, edu-cating the children, and othermosque activities. Solnaznotes that she and others weremotivated “to do something[like] raise money” for the Is-lamic center. Concerned withpassing on their faith to theirchildren, they worked hard toestablish a Sunday school.Naturally, there were manysetbacks. “Well, one of thefirst things of course is thatthere weren’t any books. Theclasses were very small — veryhaphazard — not very orga-nized,” recalls Alia Hogben.“But we cared a lot about thechildren, so they were in-volved in a lot of things.”

Ramadan was a special timethat brought the communitytogether — despite the lack ofa kitchen. She and otherswould prepare food at home.“We cooked here [at home]and take it there [to the Islam-ic Centre],” she reminisces.“We ate together. It was nice.”

While the need to self-iden-tify as Muslim was not so im-portant in their native lands,the community’s small sizeand its members’ minoritystatus made it more importanthere. Amjad Syed noted thatin Canada his faith and skincolor set him apart from oth-ers. Yet he remembers vividlythe first time he prayed with

(top) Regip Assim, Founder of The Muslim Society of Toronto, in Sept. 1965 (left) Malik Shabazz (Malcom X) visits the Dundas St. Mosque

PHOTO

GRAPH COPYRIGHT MARY KARIM, COURTESY TTI

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Dr. Sahin agrees, notingthat he “was concernedabout the future of youngMuslims born and raised [inCanada]. But all my worries— like the worries of most ofmy friends there — were fu-tile because we discoveredthat all of these childrenwhose parents were involvedin the Islamic movementgrew up to be wonderfulMuslims, wonderful citizensof Canada and well educatedand respected.”

The Islamic Centre, theheart of the Muslim commu-nity, was the scene of manynoteworthy historical events,such as the visit by MalcolmX. Murray Hogben, who hadarranged the speech, invitedMalcolm to dinner at hishome first. “We talked […]and had a nice time. We ateand […], put [Malcolm] inthe car and took him to theCentre,” he said. “He spoke[and then] we were pho-tographed with him. I hadframed [a] paper, [… with]Arabic inscription [in] one ofthese gold frames, whichwere available then and thatwas our little gift to him.”Sadly, soon after that Mal-colm X was assassinated; thebrief encounter so manyyears ago still brings tears tothe eyes of those who remem-

ber his visit to Dundas Street. Other historical nuggets

have been discovered, such asthe fact that Dr. HussainIbrahim Saleh al-Shahristani,Iraq’s current oil minister,was the center’s Sundayschool teacher while earninghis Ph.D. at the University ofToronto. The Muslim StudentAssociation of Toronto wasfounded by people who werealso active at the center.

As the need for more spacebecame urgent, the communi-ty sold the Dundas StreetMosque and purchased a for-mer church (now the Jami

mosque). “[It] cost us$150,000.00, and that was a lotof money then,” Mrs. Hogbensays. “But we were so excitedyou know, and so this was go-ing to be the new place.”

But there were also divi-sions and disagreements with-in the rapidly expanding com-munity. Before long, thesedifferences of opinion createdsplits within the community.“[A]nd then the communitydecided to split off … insteadof staying together,” shelaments, “… so now the Alba-nians have their own mosque,the Bosnians have their

mosque, and so on and soforth. … For me, it has beenone of the tragedies.”

In the end, less than tenyears after its establishmentthe center closed its doors andits members went their sepa-rate ways. Yet each group has,in its own way, carried thespirit of Islam through its owncommunity, carving a nicheand making a rich contribu-tion to Canada’s diverse reli-gious and cultural landscape._______________________Aziza Hirsi is a senior at the University ofToronto. Katherine Bullock, Ph.D., is thepresident of Tessellate Institute.

Toronto’s firstmosque was in fact aconverted leathershop that was trans-formed into the Dundas StreetMosque by a smallhard-working team of Muslims.

Dr. Rahman Syed and Dr. AfzalunnisaSyeda visit the Dundas St. Mosquewith their family; (below, from left)Amjad Syed, standing, Regip Assim,Imam Khattab, Murray Hogben,during a fundraising dinner hostedby The Muslim Society of Toronto, at Hart House, University of Toronto,April 29 1966, and attended byseveral local politicians

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF WWW.MOSQUEONE.COM

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