Younger Muslims find peace in old ways but community's older people see it as a worrying trend

Younger Muslims find peace in old ways but community's older people see it as a worrying trend

Author: Leslie Scrivener
Source: Toronto Star, February 18, 1996, p. A12

Original title: Younger Muslims find peace in old ways but community's older people see it as a worrying trend

Why, asks Rahat Kurd, is there is such emotional investment in a piece of cloth?

The piece of cloth is called a hijab, the headgear worn by Muslim women and seen increasingly on city streets and in schools.

It sparks division between generations - some older people wonder why their children adopt what to them is a symbol of repression - and controversy about its meaning.

Kurd, a writer and Queen's University student, has covered her head since she was 17. Now 26, she wears a hijab as an act of worship.

It's not political, she says. ''It's very personal and spiritual. I feel I'm doing it in obedience to God, the same way that praying or fasting during Ramadan is done in obedience to God.''

The principle is modesty. In Islam, it is required of men and women.

It has become part her identity, Kurd says. ''It tells people I am Muslim. I do it strictly for the sake of my religion.''

But many older Muslims are concerned about what they say is a growing trend as young Canadian-born Muslims become more devout - some would say conservative - in their religious practices.

''I don't want to be separated from Canadian life,'' says Alia Hogben, vice-president of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women.

''I am a practising Muslim. I want to be defined as that, but I do not want to be identified by the hijab. To me it symbolizes a lot from my past, which was repressive.''

The outward signs of this Islamic renewal are the hijab and, for some, floor-length skirts. Young men grow beards and cover their heads.

They sit apart at gatherings of Muslim university students - men on one side of the room, women on the other. Some feel uncomfortable shaking hands with the opposite sex. They prefer a smile and the greeting salaam.

They identify themselves first as Muslims.

They are prayerful, pausing five times a day for the required prayers, and modest and observant of what they call ''proper moral boundaries.''

That means no dating, no drinking, no premarital sex - a strict code of conduct in what one calls a ''confused age.''

''True depth,'' says Abdul- Rehman Malik, 20, president of the University of Toronto's Muslim Students' Association, ''comes from a real relationship with Allah.''

And the young women laugh at the notion they are diminished or in any way restricted because of their dress or their beliefs. Some say they are feminists, see themselves revitalized, in positions of renewed power and fighting against sexism and male domination in their mosques.

''I question everything,'' says Taheera Quick, a vice-president of York University's Muslim Students Association. ''Whenever people say I'm oppressed. I find that hilarious. I've never let anything stop me, but first I follow the rules of Islam.''

These young people are in the minority, says her father, Imam Abdullah Hakim Quick.

Of the estimated 250,000 Muslims in the Metro Toronto area, many have left their faith. ''But the number of youth who are committing themselves to Islamic practices is rapidly increasing,'' he says.

But some Muslims, such as Hogben, have serious reservations about the direction these young Muslims are taking.

She describes the shared dream of her generation of Muslims who came to Canada as young adults - she from India - to create a unique Canadian Muslim identity.

''Any change or revival had to come from a place where Islam hadn't been before,'' she says.

''We felt something was going to happen in Canadian society. It would be exciting, people would open their minds, then rejuvenate it somehow. There would be a challenging, critical analysis.

''So this pull to conservatism is something we did not expect.''

She stresses: ''The majority of Muslim women are not wearing hijab. Conservatism is one interpretation of Islam.''

Many of these young Muslims start wearing the hijab in university. While they may have been among a handful of Muslims in their high schools, they find at university a warm, welcoming group of Muslim students from varied ethnic backgrounds.

It's a truly accepting, multicultural group, showing the tolerance that Canadians praise but don't always practise, says Hogben.

''The other part, and they won't agree, is that it's a political statement of being visibly Muslim in Canada. The sad part to me is that it's a reaction to the subtle and overt discrimination they face in Canada.''

Full cover-up may also be a statement against the way women's bodies are portrayed in Western society, says Hogben.

Some of these young people risk the wrath of their parents, immigrants who favor integration and who came from societies where they were not a minority.

''These young people feel more free,'' says Muhammad Al-Faruque, who teaches at the University of Toronto, where about 3,000 Muslims are enrolled.

''They saw how, in their parents' time, because of colonialism, Muslim culture was secondary to Western culture.''

One U of T student recalled his father was aghast when he grew a beard and wore a head covering. ``What are you trying to do? I'm putting you through university.''

''I can't believe how unsupportive the adult community is,'' says a another student.

''They mock you, they ridicule you. They ask who will marry you?''

U of T student Raneem Azzam says the older generation's resistance is linked to a desire to blend into Canadian society.

''Most of us realize we're not the same as Western youth,'' she says. ''We know we're different. That's what made us stronger in our faith.''

Kurd says her assertiveness in her faith has much to do with being a Canadian Muslim.

''You really have to know who you are. You are called upon to explain yourself a lot . . .

''I don't really think I would care as much about my religion if I had not been born and raised in Canada.''

This generation, facing a population whose knowledge of the Muslim world sometimes extends no further than the stereotypical Islamic terrorist, find themselves on the defensive.

They had a lot of explaining to do during the Persian Gulf war. They were outraged when Muslims were named as suspects, without cause, in the Oklahoma City bombing.

For some, these events - and the decision last year by the Quebec Human Rights Commission that it was discriminatory for public schools to ban the hijab - led them to learn more about their religion.

''Given the incredibly negative portrayal of Islam, you often get people reclaiming that which they are derided for,'' says Amir Hussein, who teaches a course on Islam at McMaster University.

''For some of these kids, it's `Here I am, a Muslim. I'm going to give it a positive image of strength.' ''

While he is surprised at the conservatism among young Muslims, he points out the worldwide trend to conservative religious traditions.

These young Muslims, like any other Canadians in their 20s, face all the troubles of our times, including a lack of employment and lack of stability.

''I don't think they have the same sense of optimism,'' says Hogben.

''For some young Muslim women this may be a harkening back to some halcyon days of security, of limits being set for you, clearly set out rules of conduct.

''Why wouldn't you go there? It's more comfortable. It's also a case of being proud of who you are and not allowing mainstream society to look down on you.''

Young women who don the hijab and embrace Islam fully say following the principles of Islam simplifies their lives.

''It helps me make better decisions,'' says York University student Nadia Irshad. ''My decisions are more constant.

''Automatically I don't have to worry about so many things girls worry about. I don't worry about dating. When I go to class I can focus. I'm not distracted by boys. My life doesn't revolve around getting a boyfriend or pleasing some boy.''

The goal for many is to practise ''pure Islam,'' one not colored by the cultural practices of different countries, and to lead their parents to this practice.

''We have scholars from other countries, but they don't understand the Canadian expression of Islam,'' U of T student Shiraz Sheikh says.

''What we need is a group of scholars to understand what it means to be a Muslim in North America.''

Illustration

STAR PHOTO (TED ANDKILDE FOR THE STAR): ACT OF WORSHIP: RAHAT KURD, A QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY STUDENT, SAYS COVERING HER HEAD WITH THE HIJAB, A MUSLIM WOMAN'S HEADGEAR, SHOWS OBEDIENCE TO GOD. STAR COLOR PHOTO (GOWER): CONSERVATIVE WAYS: MUSLIM STUDENTS DISCUSS THEIR FAITH AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO'S ROBARTS LIBRARY. CLOCKWISE FROM BOTTOM LEFT, SURROUNDING AYMAR RABBANI, ARE SAIMA BHATTI, RANEEM AZZAM, SABA AHMAD, SIRAZ SHEIKH, ABDUL-REHMAN MALIK, HUSSEIN HAMDANI AND FARAZ RABBANI.

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