The silent loss of Canadian Muslim history

By Muneeb Nasir

Walk into any Islamic institution—mosque, school, or community centre—and you’ll find Muslims in prayer, children learning the Qur’an, families attending programs, and volunteers working tirelessly behind the scenes to keep things running.

But how much do we know about how these institutions came to be?

Who were the pioneers who laid the foundations, organized the first prayer spaces, established the mission and vision, and built the organizations we now take for granted?

Many of these stories are at risk of being forgotten.

In recent years, an increasing number of mosques have discontinued producing newsletters, bulletins, or printed annual reports.

Gone are the days when Muslims in the Greater Toronto Area could read about their community in publications like Al-Manar, An-Nur, Al-Basheer, Ambition, or Imprint.

Today, we rely almost entirely on social media—quick posts, Instagram stories, and Facebook event pages.

While these tools are great for promoting events and sharing reminders, they aren’t designed to preserve memory.

Posts disappear, accounts get deactivated, and the details of our community’s journey are buried under constantly changing algorithms.

Even more troubling, in some cases, parts of our history are deliberately left out.

Founding members or long-time contributors may be excluded from the narrative because of personal disputes, internal politics, or leadership changes.

Too often, we only learn about their contributions at their janazah.

Rewriting or omitting history—whether by neglect or intention—is a disservice to the community.

It disconnects us from our roots and deprives future generations of a meaningful understanding of the struggles, sacrifices, and victories that shaped the institutions they inherit.

Why does this matter?

Because a community without memory is a community without direction.

When we forget where we came from, we lose sight of who we are—and what we’re here to do.

So, what can we do?

• Revive community newsletters, even in digital form. Beyond promoting events, they can include khutbah highlights, community reflections, mosque news, and tributes to past and present members.
• Add a history section to your mosque’s website, showcasing timelines, milestone events, old photos, and reflections from those who were there from the beginning.
• Interview elders and long-time volunteers and record their stories. These oral histories are priceless and irreplaceable.
• Be inclusive and honest in telling our stories. Every contribution matters—even from people who are no longer active or whom we may disagree with today.
• Support community journalism. Platforms like IQRA.ca and MuslimLink.ca are among the few dedicated to documenting Canadian Muslim life.

Preserving our history isn’t about living in the past.

It’s about securing the future.

By honouring the efforts of those who came before us, we inspire the next generation to serve, lead, and carry the torch—with gratitude and purpose.

Let’s not allow our story to fade into a forgotten Facebook or Instagram post.

Let’s document it. Let’s remember it. And let’s pass it on.