By SHAHINA SIDDIQUI — At a recent invitation to speak on Islam and Muslims, I was confronted with what I thought at the time to be an odd question. A woman in the audience in tone off sheer impatience asked me, “Why can’t you just be a Canadian?” A little confused I responded, “I am a Canadian.” She retorted, “No you are not, you keep talking about being a Muslim.”

Obviously the point was lost that I was invited to talk about Islam and issues around being a Canadian Muslim. So I posed a question of my own: Why can I not be a Canadian and a Muslim, just as there are Christians and Jews who are Canadians? She responded, “Well they don’t call themselves Canadian Christians.”

The exchange was really going nowhere as we kept talking in circles and I decided to end it with, “If you can tell me what is it that you find un-Canadian about me perhaps I can then respond more clearly.” I was frustrated but at the same time bemused that she could not respond.

This woman had obviously articulated what many people think but are too polite to voice. It seems that in our world today we compartmentalize our life in to distinct and unconnected spheres and therefore the infusion of faith-based identity and a national identity is seen as incompatible. I am sure that if I had claimed to be a Canadian secularist it would not have posed a problem.

This forced dichotomy of church and state, while understandable at the governmental, civic and political level, makes little sense in the personal sphere of citizens’ lives. My faith-based values direct my life and inform my decisions while my civic responsibilities tamper my faith observance in case of conflict.
Note: Shahina Siddiqui of Winnipeg is president of the Islamic Social Services Association of Canada.

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