Saturday, October 31th 10:30 – 12:00

Session Room: Loft 1

1) Sharmina Mawani and Anjoom Mukadam
Articulating National and Religious Identities through Architecture: The Ismaili Centre, Toronto

This paper will focus on the Nizari Ismaili Muslim community of Gujarati ancestry who migrated to Canada, beginning in the 1960s. In order to foster a sense of ‘home’, the Ismailis established temporary jamatkhanas that were places of worship, and social spaces that offered psychological, educational, economic, as well as networking benefits. The eventual establishment of permanent jamatkhanas is indicative of the community planting its roots in Canadian soil and making it their home.  Taking the case study of the Ismaili Centre, Toronto (ICT), this paper will discuss how the physical structure of the ICT, acts as a visible representation of the religious and national identities of the Ismailis. It is clear in contemporary society that the formation of identities is a complex process as individuals lack one fixed identity; there exist multiple identities, hybrid identities and new identities that are continuously evolving.  As the world becomes smaller and the notion of globalisation becomes more real than ever before, acts of extremism, terrorism and Islamophobia become key factors that shape the identities of global Muslims.  For certain communities, such as the Ismailis, religion is an integral aspect of their identity. Although one’s religious identity may be more salient in given contexts, an individual can exhibit several identities at the same time. Following the guidance of their spiritual leader (Aga Khan IV) to be loyal to the faith of Islam and the country in which they reside, this paper will explore what it means when the ICT is referred to as an ‘ambassadorial building’ and the role that it plays to help ‘demystify’ Islam. Places of worship serve to mirror the ethos of a community and this paper will also examine how the ICT embodies the Canadian values of multiculturalism and pluralism.

2) Rameez Abbas, National Defense University

The Ismaili are a subgroup within Shia Islam, and are a minority community in every country where they have a significant presence. Most Ismaili subsects have positive relationships among the states and societies in which they live. Today, the largest concentrations of Ismailis are in India and Pakistan, but Ismaili sects are based in countries across South and Central Asia.  In addition, the Druze of Israel, Lebanon and Syria have Ismaili roots (though many do not consider themselves Muslims or Shia). As minorities with un-orthodox religious beliefs and an esoteric theology, we might expect that Ismailis are persecuted minorities in the Muslim world because they challenge mainstream theology and practices. And in non-Muslim countries, we might expect their condition to be comparable to that of the rest of Muslim population. However, in reality, far from being persecuted religious minorities, many Ismaili communities are known as model minorities in their home countries. Moreover, members of the same transnational community often maintain positive relations with competing states. For example, the Druze in Israel are known to be Israeli patriots, supporting the state and serving in the otherwise overwhelmingly Jewish military. And the Druze in Syria have historically been loyal to the Assad regime.  This paper analyzes the politics of two Ismaili sects: the Dawoodi Bohras of India and Pakistan and the Druze of Israel and Syria (before the Syrian civil war). It explains the relations these communities maintain with the political regime in each state, and analyzes the factors—rooted in Ismaili history and theology—that might explain why their politics and outcomes are atypical of other minority groups in these countries.