On April 28, 2017, Crestwood World History and Religion students took a day to take in the multireligious and multicultural character of Toronto. Students visited a Sikh gurdwara, a Hindu temple, and in the afternoon we visited the Noor Cultural Centre and Mosque, to take part in Friday prayers. It was a day for students to put their learning into practice and to connect to the larger community.
At Noor we were able to meet Talat Muinuddin, who had agreed to do an oral history interview with Crestwood students.
Talat was born in India, and grew up in the Hyderabad area. When partition came in 1947, her family witnessed the chaos, and they were eventually uprooted themselves, making their way to Pakistan. From there Talat spent time in England before emigrating to Canada in the 1960s. She told students about her personal experiences along the way, and about the realities and misconceptions surrounding Islam; she also encouraged students to develop an interfaith dialogue, and we are hopeful that this interview will aid students in that journey.
