RMC honours lone Muslim Canadian known to have died in WWI

For the past three years, Capt. Ryan Carter has been organizing ceremonies in the days leading up to Remembrance Day to honour Muslim Canadians who fought in times of conflicts and war.

But the one held last Sunday was a little different. Not only was it the first time it was held in Kingston, it also paid tribute to the only Muslim known to have died for Canada in the First World War.

Though Carter is an imam, he's still referred to as "padre" at the Royal Military College (RMC) in Kingston also a first for the RMC. In 2003, the Canadian Forces announced its first-ever Muslim chaplain, Capt. Suleyman Demiray of Ottawa.

Carter said he wants to spread awareness about the contributions of Muslims in the Canadian military, and dispel any misconceptions that their involvement today is a new phenomenon.

"[Muslims] were part of the force like anybody else," Carter told CBC Radio's All in a Day.

"I think it was a revelation for most people. It was a revelation for me, myself, to know Canadian Muslims were involved in the very inception of World War One, and certainly continued to serve up until the present. I never realized it went that far back."

22 Muslims fought for Canada

Carter has organized remembrance ceremonies in the past in Toronto and Edmonton, but Kingston's ceremony came after he researched the issue in more depth over the summer months. He read about it in Filling the Ranks, a book by Richard Holt, who researched Canada's military efforts in the First World War.

According to the book, 22 Muslims fought for Canada in the war, butPte. Hasan Amat, originally from Singapore, was the only one who died.

The 23-year-old soldier from western Ontario died in the Battle of Hill 70 in France fighting for the 1st Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Hisbody was never recovered. The battle in August 1917 lasted 10 days and ended with 9,000 Canadians killed in action, but was hailed as a victory becauseGerman casualties exceeded 20,000.

Chaplain read verse fromQur'an

At the remembrance ceremony last Sunday, Carter read a verse from the Qur'an about the tragedy and sometimes, the necessity of war.

"If fighting were not to take place then certainly all things sacred whether it be mosques, synagogues, and monasteries would have been surely destroyed. The verse brings attention to the grim reality of war, but sometimes that war is necessary," Carter said.

He said now that Library and Archives Canada has digitized many soldiers' military records, it'seasier to research the contributions of Muslims insubsequent wars.

"I think this is the research that I really want to involve myself in, and I hope that we'll find more and more as the years go by," he said.