Shia Islam in Canada
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Shia Islam in Canada is a part of the global Shia community that continues to bond with Shias elsewhere. Shia Muslims have been a featuring segment of the Canadian Muslim society that became more conspicuous from the 1970s and onwards.[1]
Community
The Shia community manifests itself in two main forms in Canada. One is through the Twelver rite and the other is through the Ismaili rite. However, due to the lack of census questions that go into specific details in Canada, it remains unknown which community is larger between the two.[2] However, both have established both community centers, spiritually attached leisure centers, as well as mosques in the country. The most prominent Ismaili center is the Ismaili Centre, Toronto at the Charbagh Gardens, while the most prominent Ithna Ashari center is the Ahlul Bayt Assembly of Canada.[3]
Adherents
Reza Hosseini Nassab is a Canadian Grand Ayatollah of the Twelver rite. Anisa Mehdi, a film director and journalist, who although a Shia, reports on her faith from a Pan-Islamic viewpoint.[4]
Notable Canadian Shia Muslims
- Reza Hosseini Nassab - Grand Ayatollah
- Amir Attaran - Canadian lawyer, immunologist, and law professor
- Leyla Milani - Canadian model, actress, TV host and fashion designer
- Anisa Mehdi - an Emmy Award winning film director and journalist
- Hassan Khosrowshahi - founder of Canadian electronics retailer, Future Shop
- Amir Khadir - politician in the National Assembly of Quebec (MNA), Canada
- Maziar Bahari - Canadian journalist, film maker and human rights activist
- Farid Haerinejad - documentary maker and blogger
- Mobina Jaffer - Canadian Senator representing British Columbia
- Rahim Jaffer - former Canadian politician and a former Member of Parliament
- Rizwan Manji - notable for his role as Rajiv in the now cancelled NBC Universal TV series Outsourced
- Farah Nasser - Canadian journalist with CablePulse24
- Naheed Nenshi - current mayor of Calgary, Alberta
- Taleeb Noormohamed - President & CEO of Serebra
- Yasmin Ratansi - Canadian politician and a Member of Parliament
- Omar Sachedina - Canadian television journalist, currently a news anchor and reporter for the CTV Television Network.
- Aliza Vellani - Canadian television actress, who played the role of Layla Siddiqui in Little Mosque on the Prairie
- Ali Velshi - Canadian-American television journalist best known for his work on CNN
- Alykhan Velshi - lawyer, policy analyst, and ministerial assistant
- Murad Velshi - former politician in Ontario, Canada.
See also
- Ismaili Centre, Toronto
- Ahlul Bayt Assembly of Canada
- List of Canadian Shia Muslims
- Shia Islam in El Salvador
- Shia Islam in Botswana