Community Life

The headquarters of the Ahmadi community in Canada is the Bai‘tul Islam mosque in Maple, Ontario. It is the largest such building in North America and, in its design and advanced technology, it is meant to send the distinctive mix of messages associated with the movement. The exterior is beautiful and traditional – no different in any immediately obvious way from many other mosques. But it has two domes, which cover essentially separate mosques. Duplicate prayer halls have been built for men and women, asserting both the division mandated by tradition and the equality demanded by modern Western society. Earphone jacks along the walls of the halls allow for instantaneous translation into Urdu and English. Large television screens project the weekly sermon of the khalifa, whose message is picked up in London, England, and carried by satellite to followers around the world. The broadcasts are also taped and circulated, together with appropriate translations, to smaller communities. In the men’s prayer hall, a balcony at the back provides space for visitors, while the rear of the women’s hall is glassed-in to allow mothers to bring young children without disturbing other worshippers. Ahmadis use rented or converted spaces in other Canadian cities, but mosques are being built in Saskatoon and Calgary.

The current leader, or amir, in Canada is Naseem Mahdi, a professional missionary trained at the Jamia Ahmadiyah in Rabwah. He has also been the missionary in charge in Canada since 1985, and he leads a group of four other professionals in addition to a number of part-time missionaries, who are generally retired from regular work. The Ahmadiyya movement relies on voluntarism in administering the affairs of the community and spreading the message of its founder. Every member is meant to be a “caller towards Allah” and dedicate some portion of his or her time to mission work. A one-month course provides minimum training before the individual goes out into the field. With this background, part-time evangelists have travelled to the former Soviet Union and South America to work as self-financed missionaries for up to six months.

The amir is the chief executive officer of the movement in Canada. He is appointed by the khalifa, who has the final authority in all community and spiritual affairs. The amir is advised by a national executive made up of twenty members elected by representatives of the twenty-two branches spread over seven provinces. Each branch has its own executive, elected by all the local donors. The expenses of the community are funded by donations, a percentage of income that is administered in a flexible manner. Twenty-five percent is sent to the international headquarters and the balance is used by the amir for activities in Canada. In a small room of the administrative building next to the Maple mosque, a bank of computers provides instant contact with the branches and a detailed database on all community members.

Because of the isolation imposed on Ahmadis in Pakistan and a number of other countries, they have developed an elaborate institutional infrastructure that serves the needs of the community. In Canada much of that defensive work continues. Ahmadi professionals and veterans have their own organizations. A community-sponsored non-profit housing project opened in Toronto in 1993, with almost 90 percent Ahmadi occupancy. Programs have been developed to facilitate more effective integration into the larger community, both Muslim and non-Muslim, but significant barriers remain. For some time after the arrival of the first refugees, attacks on the movement in sermons at local mosques, often by visiting preachers from Pakistan, reflected a continuation of the struggle in the new homeland. Although Ahmadis in Canada remain largely isolated from mainstream Muslims, whether from Pakistan or other countries, much of the overt animosity has disappeared.

There are, as well, the barriers constructed by Ahmadis themselves to protect their distinctive identity and the integrity of their community life. Marriage outside Ahmadiyya is discouraged and socializing is largely concentrated among member families. Ahmadis generally consider themselves to be more liberal with regard to women’s issues than other orthodox Muslims, and there is a range of activities that involve women in community affairs. Women function separately, voting for their own representatives to distinct organizations and praying in their own prayer hall under their own dome. Purdah, like virtually all customary practices of mainstream Sunni Islam, is an important symbol of the conservative tradition of the Ahmadis. The women generally do not enter the workforce, and their presence at home both strengthens the defence of traditional community life and prevents greater socializing and accommodation with the larger society.

Many professionally trained Ahmadis have encountered difficulties in gaining recognition of their credentials and in entering an economy that was in decline when they arrived. They have tended to look to the extended family for emotional support in a difficult time. Most Ahmadis are working-class people who have lived in Canada for fewer than ten to fifteen years. They are still involved in the process of settlement and need the services and support that their own community can offer. The children of earlier immigrants are, however, now beginning to move through Canadian universities; in 1993 one of their sons received his Ph.D. from McMaster University. Like all immigrant communities, both new and old, Ahmadis have brought with them a distinctive history and experience, and they are now involved in the process of integrating it with those already settled into the fabric of Canadian society. They remain, as well, part of a unique international community that now includes Canada as a homeland of its members.