Not by Walls But by Integration - Canada Builds a Strong Nation

These are reflections on my 64th annual anniversary. It was on August 27, 1952 that I sailed from Alexandria, Egypt, as a Fulbright scholar to New York City, my first journey outside of the land of the Nile.  A journey by sea of 21 days aboard the Ex Cambion of the then famed American Lines.

Born to an Islamic scholar, and a mother who traced her lineage to Imam Al-Hassan Ibn Imam Ali, the cousin of the prophet Muhammad, I turned to my turbaned father seeking one last advice before boarding that beautiful vessel. In his ear, I whispered: "How should I live in America, and how to maintain my classic Arabic language?"

His answer was: "Live as they live." As to classic Arabic, I shall mail to you a copy of the speeches of Imam Ali Ibn Abi-Taleb. Entitled "The Path To Eloquence." It is, after the Quran, the highest form of the Arabic language.

That fatherly counsel held me in good stead for 64 years in North America. It liberated me from the strictures of my life in Egypt, and opened the door to my initial UN employment- chief of the Arabic Language Section, UN radio. I married a Catholic wife, still my beloved spouse for 46 years, and became an honorary member, since 1974, of a Jewish reform temple, in Great Neck, Long Island. And after early retirement from the UN, I now, aside from law practice, teach "Islamic Law and Global Security" at Fordham University. A Jesuit institution, I am also adjunct professor at St. Francis College.

Thus, in America, I kept on observing my Azhari father’s advice: "live as they live" a part of the American model of "the melting pot,"  the fusion of several cultures within the pot of Americanism. Not a bad model for a nation of immigrants to whose flag I swore allegiance. This is although it does not recognize my duality of citizenship, both Egyptian and American. To me, no conflict. You can be a brother and a cousin at the same time.

Yet, my abhorrence of the alarming statements of an ignoramus like Donald Trump calling for a Muslim ban and a wall against Latin immigration, inspired me to look at the Canadian model of "integration," not of " fusion." A model akin to the UN system which allows all employees to travel to their countries of origin. The rationale is simple: observe the UN Charter through service to the entire membership, but keep your civilisation roots intact. Put in other words, integrate your culture within the broader context of multiplicity.

This is the essence of Canadian nation-building. Not by walls and nativism/ chauvinism. But by the creation of a two-way cultural highway: from the country of origin to Canada, and from Canada, the values of harmonious diversity.

These are not mere empty words about the higher-value Canadian model. It is a model reflected fully in government deeds and the public square realities. Both fitting neatly the alphabet of globalization in this puzzling age of rage. No dysfunctional Trumpist ideology of faith tests, Nazi-like reliance on vigilantism, no cozying up to strong-arm dictatorships.

Just witness Canada’s welcome of new comers from areas like Syria and Iraq. Witness Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at Canadian airports. Putting warm jackets on the backs of immigrant children. Watch him dance at a Philippino cultural festival. On August 20, that young and photogenic P.M.. whose father I served at the UN, being enthusiastically welcomed in Toronto at the "Taste of Manila."  The Toronto Star reported on the chants of onlookers "Justin, Justin." Declared the PM that differences were a source of strength that makes communities stronger.

Or watch the arrivals at the Lester Pearson airport in Toronto, standing by the curbside at Terminial One of Air Canada. And observe the greeters and the greeted: Somalis, Syrian, Bangladeshis and others. A tower of Babylon, speaking happily in a multitude of languages, hugging each other outwardly, and hugging the Canadian model of integration under their colorful shirts, Sikh turbans, or Muslim veils.

Or observe the provincial and federal support of non-governmental organizations engaged in the on-going Canadian enterprise of integration at all levels. Bolstored by free education, health insurance, and freedom of expression.

And when a cultural hurdle arises, the Canadians have no hesitation to seek advice. Such as when some Syrian refugees balked at eating Canadian food. Reason: an ill-placed fear that utensils were used in eating pork products, a culinary prohibition in Islam. So I was asked to provide an opinion (a fatwa-like explanation). In response, I wrote that water was a purifier. Washing those utensils made them wholesome. Veracious eating began in earnest. The Canadian model of nation-building through integration also has a substantial security side-effect. It is countering the lunatic ideology of Jihadisim. Confronting, and eventually decimating the likes of ISIS and Boko Haram, are not by the force of arms alone. Ideology is an in dispensable supportive weapon. For Islamic Law (Sharia) properly defines "Allahu Akbar" not as a battle cry.  Its legal meaning is "all humans are equal before God, regardless of faith."

A true reflection of the Canadian model in an all-encompassing secular sense!! It is not by walls but by integration, Canada builds a strong nation.