Family photographs taken at Niagara Falls, oftentimes over Summer holidays, are a staple in many immigrant homes, evoking newfound relationships to belonging and ‘home’ in Canada. While Muslims who visit Niagara Falls will now find multiple Mosques, lively Halal restaurants, and a diverse Muslim community, Muslim community growth in the area is shaped by dedicated organizing in a landscape without existing Muslim institutions. The Muslims in Canada Archives’ collections tell a small part of this story.

Settling in Niagara Falls in 1961, Hassan Karachi is described as a trailblazer of the Niagara Falls Muslim community. Karachi immigrated to Canada from modern-day Bosnia in 1949, following World War II. In Niagara Falls, Karachi founded a paint manufacturing business and soon met Dr. Fuad Sahin, a urologist and community leader who would go on to found significant organizations including the Council of Muslim Communities of Canada.

Dr. Fuad Sahin
The Karachi and Sahin families began practicing Islam together, opening their homes for prayers and religious teachings servicing other Muslims trickling into the area. In 1978, they established the Islamic Society of the Niagara Peninsula. Without a formal Mosque, one hundred or more people from all parts of Niagara would also gather at Sahin’s home for Eid, “praying on the front lawn of the Niagara-on-the-Lake home, a turn-of-the-century lakeside house the Sahin’s have lived in since 1971.” In a conversation with Fort Erie Times, Sahin reflected on the gatherings by noting that “We Turks, love the water and the sea.”
In 1980, a parcel of land was purchased at 6768 Lyons Creek Road. Following tireless efforts of volunteers, by 1984, a modest facility was built, marking the beginning of Niagara Falls’ first Mosque. The Mosque would continue to expand, including in 1994, with the addition of a gym, classrooms, and a hall for Muslim and multi-faith social activities. In a 2003 pamphlet marking the 25th anniversary of the Islamic Society of the Niagara Peninsula, their members are described as having actively participated in charity and organizing work including chaplaincy in surrounding prisons and hospitals.
1988-89 marked another important milestone for the Niagara Falls Muslim community as the Islamic Society of the Niagara Peninsula acquired the first community owned, non-profit, Muslim cemetery in Ontario. The contract document from 1989 includes an Arabic header that reads “In the Name of God”.
More recent archival records show Niagara Falls included on directories of Mosques in southern Ontario. They also show diverse migrations to Niagara Falls, including by way of refugee sponsorship. As individuals and families continue to migrate to the area as students, in search of new opportunities, to reconnect with family, and due to forced displacement, longstanding institutions seeded in the 60s and 70s continue to serve Niagara Falls’ diverse and growing Muslim community.  

Islamic Society of the Niagara Peninsula documents (1981-2003) courtesy of Ahmed Fuad Sahin fonds at the Muslims in Canada Archives. Huzaifa’s Mosque Guide (2009) courtesy of Katherine Bullock fonds at the Muslims in Canada Archives.