Review Aims to Inspire More Research About Black Muslims in Canada

Dr. Fatimah Jackson-Best, working with the Tessellate Institute in partnership with the Black Muslim Initiative, has compiled the report "Black Muslims in Canada: A Systematic Review of Published and Unpublished Literature" in order to better understand what can be learned from the current research that is available and where the gaps are.

The report was launched at an event at the University of Toronto's School of Social Work on February 7th.

According to Dr. Best, "Black Muslims have a long history in Canada, but there has not been a consolidation of the published and unpublished information about these communities that can give a more nuanced understanding of these groups’ lived experiences. To explore the scope and content of the available work about Black Muslims in Canada, a systematic review was done that focused on available published, unpublished, and grey literature."

The review aims to answer the following questions:

What communities of Black Muslims in Canada have been identified?
How are they written about?
Who is doing the writing?
Are Black Muslims authors of their own narratives?
What role do oral narratives have in the data that is collected about Black Muslim narratives?

Come key findings from the report are:

Black Muslims in Canada experience "Anti-Black Islamophobia", a term coined by Burundian Muslim Canadian academic Delice Mugabo to describe the reality that Black Muslims in Canada face discrimination from Muslims because of their Blackness and from non-Muslims for being Black and Muslim. As Dr. Best states in the review, "Mugabo’s term provides a theoretical framework that amplifies the specific kinds of racism and discrimination experienced by Black Muslims and individuals who are perceived to be Black and Muslim; it also describes how Black Muslims become erased from dominant narratives about Muslim identity by non-Black Muslims and non-Muslims alike."

Black Muslims in Canada make up 9% of the total national Muslim population. (Note: The total Muslim population make up 3.2% of the total Canadian population, according to the 2011 National Household Study by Statistics Canada.

94% of the research available is about First and Second Generation Somali community members in Canada

Most of the research about Somali community members was done by Somali researchers

More research is needed about the realities of non-Somali Black Muslims in Canada

More research is needed by non-Sunni Black Muslims in Canada, such as members of the Twelver Shia, Ismaili, and Ahmadiyya traditions.

Read the full report online here. 
View the Infographic designed to accompany the report here.

• University of Toronto's Somali Students’ Association - St. George Campus University of Toronto's Somali Students’ Association - St. George Campus
• Delice Mugabo Delice Mugabo
• Tendisai Cromwell Tendisai Cromwell
• Tessellate Institute Tessellate Institute
• Dr. Nimo Bokore Dr. Nimo Bokore
• Naeema Hassan Naeema Hassan
• Hodan A. Cashuur Hodan A. Cashuur
• Dr. Fatimah Jackson-Best Dr. Fatimah Jackson-Best
• "Black Muslims in Canada: A Systemic Review" Launch "Black Muslims in Canada: A Systemic Review" Launch
• Black Muslim Initiative Black Muslim Initiative
• Dr. Afua Cooper Dr. Afua Cooper
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