The Relevance of Islamic Identity in Canada

Culture, Politics, and Self

This volume examines, from diverse perspectives, what it means to be a Muslim in Canada. Is it a public or a private identity, and as an identity is it compatible with a secular democracy such as Canada? What relation does it bear to historical, cultural, and ethnic identities? Is a total agnostic or an atheist a Muslim? Is a person who disavows being a Muslim still a Muslim? How do Muslims cope with anti-Muslim bigotry, especially when it goes “official”? What alterations in social and religious practice and what re-thinking of interpretation can one expect in its evolution? These vital questions of faith, culture, survival, and identity are addressed by prominent members of the Canadian cultural and intellectual community. The results are illuminating, sometimes surprising and sometimes—as in the recent niqab hysteria—deeply disturbing.