Verily, with hardship, comes ease.
Indeed, verily with hardship, comes ease.

Koran, Surah 94, Verses 5-6

These verses from the Koran are most apt to describe the reality of the past year for Canadian Muslims, and the guarded optimism of those with faith.

Since 9/11/01, many Canadian Muslims have experienced what can best be described as their annus horribilis. The events of that fateful day were traumatic enough -- defenseless civilians of every faith, age and race, mercilessly slaughtered while going about their daily routines in the heart of North America. Canadian Muslims, like everyone else, were horrified and fearful. However, the brief unity in grief soon gave way to fearful isolation, once it became known that the perpetrators committed this heinous act in the name of Islam.

Canadians of the Muslim faith instinctively knew that they would become the subject of collective guilt in their own country. Many took precautions by keeping their children home from school, staying out of the public eye and contacting the police for protection for Muslim institutions.

Community organizations, individuals, and imams, all condemned 9/11 in the strongest possible terms as antithetical to Islam. Still, that did not stop those committed to venting their blind anger. Taunts, threats, physical assaults and vandalism against personal property and Muslim institutions were recorded by police units across the country within the first months after 9/11.

Last week, the Council on American-Islamic Relations Canada (CAIR-CAN) released the results of a poll about how Canadian Muslims have fared in the year since that fateful day. Of nearly 300 respondents, 60 per cent indicated that they had been subject to some form of discrimination or bias, while 80 per cent indicated they knew of someone else who had been subject to the same.

As the spike in documented hate crimes faded after two months, Canadian Muslims felt a more insidious form of discrimination: that of a community under suspicion. A few media commentators brazenly categorized Muslims as a "fifth column," hiding sleeper cells amongst their midst. Others questioned their loyalty as Canadian citizens. Bordering on hate literature, some columns and national editorials dehumanized Muslims as a barbaric, murderous people.

The erosion of civil rights, particularly of Canadians of the Muslim faith, also weighed heavily in the minds of a fearful community. High profile cases of Muslims in Canada accused of aiding and abetting al-Qaeda further added to the anxiety.

Trial by media, guilt by religious identity, seemed to be the norm as the Canadian public was treated to a spectacle of Muslims paraded by the RCMP as "prime suspects": a Canadian NSERC nuclear engineer of Egyptian origin whose alleged wrongdoing was based on having a name similar to that of lead hijacker Mohamed Atta; an Ottawa man originally from Somalia who managed wire transfers for Canadians sending money to support their families in Somalia; a Toronto copy shop owner who was also the uncle of the infamous Nabil al-Marabh. Full of sound and fury, these dramatic announcements were found later to signify nothing. Lives had been devastated by irresponsible actions of the media and the RCMP.

Despite these glaring errors by intelligence authorities, Muslims have remained under a cloud of suspicion. The latest results of an IPSOS-Reid poll indicate that 35 per cent of Canadians are more suspicious of Arabs and Muslims from the Middle East, an 8-per-cent increase since the poll asked the same question on Sept. 21, 2001. And 48 per cent of Canadians also indicate that they favour some form of racial profiling.

Perhaps the deepest offence, though, were the attacks against Islam itself. A few commentators have relished the opportunity to display their ignorance by imputing 9/11 to the Koran itself (even in the pages of The Globe and Mail, where William Johnson referred to verses of warfare as proof that violence is the foundation of Islam, and Margaret Wente branded the Egyptian murderer of El Al employees at Los Angeles airport as a "devotee of the Koran." Call-in radio shows provided a snapshot of the mindset of a minority openly hostile to the faith itself.

Given this, will Canada's unique multicultural foundation be eroded as openness gives way to suspicion; inclusion replaced by enclaves of disaffected minorities; transparency of justice clouded by secret evidence and secret trials?

The events of the past year have forced many Muslims to explain their faith to the wider public. This is a responsibility that the community should have borne long ago. It has also led to introspection, and in many instances to a strengthening of faith and identity. And it has exposed fundamental differences within the community regarding interpretation of religious teachings and its role here in Canada.

Now, more than ever, Koranic words of solace, inspiration, and divine care are helping individuals cope day to day, combating uncertainty with unshakable faith, the cloud of suspicion with rays of divine light, and betrayal of confidence in human beings with firm reliance in the compassionate Almighty.

As Canadian Muslims look to the near past, they discover that many ethnic groups have gone through similar trials: Ukrainians and Poles during the First World War; Germans, Italians and Japanese during the Second World War, and Jews during the first half of the past century. By fighting discrimination, each group emerged stronger, with its role further entrenched in the Canadian mosaic.

Canadian Muslims must come to terms with the reality that it is now their turn. Will they fight discrimination and challenge violations to civil rights, thus contributing toward the evolution of social justice in Canada? Will they consolidate their tremendous reservoir of talent and values into instruments of change for the benefit of all? Or will they retreat into ghettos, contributing to the vicious cycle of mutual suspicions between "civilizations"? On a more sober note, what efforts will they make to forge opportunities for their children?

Social harmony, however, is a two-way street. And the results of the CAIR-CAN poll provide optimism: More than 60 per cent of Canadian Muslims report acts of kindness and support by their fellow citizens in the wake of 9/11. Numerous interfaith dialogues, town-hall meetings, and open houses are evidence of the spontaneous outreach extended by other Canadians.

It is this wellspring of basic human goodness that must continue to flow for the preservation of social cohesion. The media have a tremendous responsibility in fostering understanding between peoples, without compromising their role as a forum to probe sensitive issues.

The pillars of Canadian society -- tolerance, compassion and fairness -- will be tested in the years to come, especially if there is another attack in North America, God forbid. Yet every Canadian must reflect seriously upon his or her role in shaping our society for the better, against those forces who desire otherwise. Are we, individually and collectively, up to the challenge?
Sheema Khan is chair of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Canada.