A History of the Islamic Association of Nova Scotia
The Islamic Association of Nova Scotia is one of the oldest Muslimorganizations in Canada. It was formerly known as the IslamicAssociation of the Maritime Provinces of Canada. The origins of itsestablishment were in 1966 when a Memorandum of Association was signedon December 26, 1966 by the following six newly arrived Muslimimmigrants to Nova Scotia: The above Memorandum of the Islamic Association of the MaritimeProvinces of Canada (IAMP) was officially registered with theRegistrar of Joint Stock Companies of Nova Scotia on January 03, 1967and the aforesaid six individuals thus became the founding fathers ofthe first legally registered Islamic organization in the Maritimeprovinces of Canada. The official location of the newly formed Association was at 78Crichton Avenue, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, the home of Dr. Merdsoy, thefounding President. During the early part of 1967, the members of thisinfant organization got together for weekly prayers only on Sundays.These gatherings were very small and were usually held in the homes ofthe founding members. The total number of Muslim families then livingin Halifax area was only a few dozen. The years following 1967 saw a significant growth in the number ofimmigrants especially from the Indian sub-continent. Most of these newcomers were professionals including doctors, engineers, universityprofessors and school teachers. By 1968 the number of Muslims in theHalifax-Dartmouth area grew so large that it was no more possible tohold prayer congregations in anyone's home. Around 1969, arrangements were made by the IAMP to hold its weeklySunday afternoon zuhr prayers at the St Andrews United Church, locatedat the corner of Robie Street and Coburg Road in Halifax. Each week,members of the IAMP would bring in the prayer mats and clean sheets tocover the wooden floor of the church gymnasium where they would offerthe Zuhr prayers. This was usually followed by a brief talk on anyIslamic topic and the program used to conclude with a cup of tea andsnacks in the church kitchen. The number of people attending theSunday program which ran for about an hour was around thirty. Forlarger annual gatherings such as Eid prayers, the IAMP used to rentsmall community halls like the one on top of the fire station acrossthe Nova Scotia Hospital on Pleasant Street in Dartmouth. From the very inception of the IAMP the members of the Muslimcommunity felt the pressing need for a place of their own. Theinitiative to achieve this goal was taken by the following twomembers, who jointly bought a double-lot land in Dartmouth on February7 1968: Dr. Nejat Coskun, MD and his wife Selma and Dr. Khalid Hameed,MD and his wife Carol. This watershed lot with the beautiful AlbroLake at the rear was located in a new subdivision that was beingdeveloped at that time in Dartmouth. The City assigned the civicnumber of 42 Leaman Drive for this piece of land, which was thentransferred by the aforesaid original buyers to the IAMP on March 26,1969. After the land transfer to IAMP, the members of the Associationproceeded to have building plans for the construction of an IslamicCentre. The plan included a mosque (with a dome and minaret) and amulti-purpose community hall. However, when the architect completedthe plan, the price tag for its construction was found to be too farin excess of what the small community could afford. Also, since Islamforbids taking or giving interest in any form, the proposed buildingcould not be financed through any conventional bank borrowing ormortgage. In 1971, it was decided to build a scaled-down version of the buildingwhich would be functional enough to provide a good size prayer area,plus a couple of class rooms for Sunday school, an office with alibrary and a kitchenette in the foyer. The basement was to befinished in later years. A young immigrant Hisham Slim, a professionalengineer, prepared a new modified plan. A Building Permit # 71-454 dated July 07, 1971 was issued by the cityof Dartmouth authorizing the construction of the Islamic Centre/Mosqueon the lot. The following three members of the Executive of the IAMP,elected for the year 1971, faced the challenge to have the buildingconstructed and completed in time for the up coming Eid prayers in thefall of 1971: Dr. Siraj Ahmad, MD, Mr. Syed M. Ali, P. Eng. and Mr.Hisham Slim, P. Eng. The estimated cost of the 35 X 48 feet building was $25,000 CAN. Bythe grace of Allah and with the immense volunteer support of themembers of IAMP, including some very good friends of the Muslimcommunity, the building was completed within budget. One person whosefriendship knew no religious barriers deserves mention: the lateJagdish Kumar Sinha. He was a new immigrant who had come to Dartmouth,Nova Scotia, from Patna, India, in 1970. He volunteered, and, in factdid most of the outside painting of the newly finished building in thechilly fall weather of 1971, including the hazardous upper reaches ofthe two-storey structure. By virtually racing against time, the firstEid prayers in a newly constructed Mosque of their own, at 42 LeamanDrive in Dartmouth, were offered in late fall of 1971. It is believedthat the Dartmouth Mosque is one of the first, if not the first,original mosque in Canada to be built from scratch on a virgin pieceof land owned by Muslims. After the IAMP had the new mosque completed, the once-a-week programof Sunday zuhr salat (prayers) was expanded to include various otherreligious and social activities for the growing needs of the Muslimcommunity. These included regular Sunday Islamic School for thechildren, weekly lectures and talks on Islamic topics, potluckdinners, backyard picnics on the lake, boating in summer and evenskating on the lake during the winter months. In the early 1970s, theIAMP became much more formally organized and functional, publishingits own monthly Newsletter, providing assistance for halal meat andpoultry, designating an Imam to perform marriage ceremonies andfuneral services etc. Dr. Jamal Badawi, a professor at Saint Mary'sUniversity in Halifax was appointed the first Imam of the IAMP. Sincethen, he has painstakingly been performing the duties andresponsibilities in his voluntary capacity. The IAMP did not lose sight of the ultimate destiny of every livingbeing. i.e. death. Luckily, there was already a small Syrian Muslim cemetery, which was established in May 1944 and was located on BibleHill Road in Truro, Nova Scotia a distance of about 100 km fromHalifax. The cemetery was owned and maintained by the Muslim settlers who had immigrated from Syria/Lebanon and settled around Truro/NewGlasgow/Pictou area in the early part of the twentieth century. Thesecond generation Muslims of these settlers became members of theIAMP. They took an active role in making the IAMP the mother organization for Muslims, including those of Middle Eastern descent,who were already settled throughout little communities' in NovaScotia. It was through their initiative and cooperation that in theyears 1968 and 1970, the IAMP was able to buy additional parcels ofland around the existing Syrian Muslim cemetery in Truro, which wasjust about to run out of space. Thereafter, in 1971, the IAMP builtanother small mosque in Truro on the newly acquired parcel of land,which was contiguous to the existing cemetery, so the funeral prayersand other religious activities could be undertaken there. One of the other main focuses of the IAMP was to ensure that the Muslim children did not lose Islamic values. With this goal in mind,the weekly Sunday school was established immediately after buildingthe Mosque in 1971. Even though there were only two small rooms on thesecond floor to serve as classrooms, dedicated members of the IAMPvolunteered their time and effort to teach the little kids the basicsof Islam. To provide more room for Sunday school and other largersocial events, the basement of the Mosque was finished in 1973. ArifHusain, a professional engineer took the initiative in designing andgetting the basement project fully completed under his supervision. With the passage of time, the Muslim community grew up and by theearly 1980s it was felt that the once-a-week Sunday school was notenough to provide the much-needed Islamic foundation to the Muslimchildren. Hence, in 1984, a full time Halifax-Dartmouth Islamic Schoolwas formally established and registered with the Nova ScotiaDepartment of Education. The school started its operation at theDartmouth Mosque and in the initial years could only offer classes upto Grade 2. Volunteers who in some cases were trained teacherslicensed by the Nova Scotia Department of Education, provided theeducation. The next major addition to the Dartmouth Mosque was undertaken anddonated in 1986 by Dr. K. Shamsul Hoque, one of the founding membersof the IAMP. With the city of Dartmouth Building Permit # 86-782 datedJune 26, 1986, the prayer area of the Mosque was extended by about athird. New plush quality carpeting was also installed in the entirearea. In the 1990s, Canada opened its immigration doors to entrepreneurs.With the upheaval caused by the Gulf war, a large number of Arabicspeaking Muslim immigrants arrived in Nova Scotia. The need to expandthe Islamic School grew very critical. By 1996, the full-time IslamicSchool (still housed in the Dartmouth Mosque) was hosting classes upto Grade 6. However, because of the space limitations, the totalnumber of students could not be increased beyond 30. In1996 the IAMPwas able to lease from the City of Halifax a much larger schoolbuilding located at 6199/6225 Chebucto Road in Halifax to cater forthe pressing needs of the fast growing Muslim community. The leaseagreement had an option for the IAMP to buy this building later on, ifrequired. With the leasing of the Chebucto Road building in 1996, the schoolenrolment immediately increased to over 70 students and the IslamicSchool was able to accept students up to Grade 9. In order to givemore autonomy and to achieve better efficiency the structure and nameof the Islamic School was changed to Maritime Muslim Academy (MMA) in1998/1999. A full-time Principal was also appointed to administer theaffairs of the school in a more formal and efficient manner. By 1999,the student enrolment at the MMA had increased to over 110 studentsand even the Chebucto Road building appeared small for the number ofstudents enrolled. Recognizing the need for further growth, the MMA was successful inworking out a deal with the City of Halifax to buy not only the first Chebucto Road building but also to buy a second building located closeto the first one. In February 2000, this landmark purchase of the twobuildings located in the heart of Halifax had opened up new vistas forproviding the much-needed services to the Muslim community. Plans arecurrently underway to determine the most cost effective means thatwould maximize the use of the two newly bought buildings to providenot only a fully developed Islamic High School with a sciencelaboratory, gymnasium, canteen etc. but to make available to theMuslim community a much larger Mosque and a community center. A major expansion of the Dartmouth mosque was done in 2005 with addition of a dedicated prayer area and a multi-purpose hall forladies. New washrooms, wudu area and a large parking lot were alsoconstructed. An extra piece of land was also purchased to expand thecemetery in Truro. Copyright (c) 2007 IANS. All Rights Reserved. |
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
