Lila Fahlman (1924 – 2006)

Lila Fahlman was a celebrated educator, social justice advocate and founder of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women. She was born in Limerick, Saskatchewan, to a Lebanese father and an English-American mother, a convert to Islam. A socially engaged teacher, school counsellor, community activist and mother, Fahlman was the first woman in Canada to earn a PhD in Educational Psychology, the first Muslim woman in Canada to serve on a public school board (Edmonton), and the first Muslim woman in North America to serve as a university chaplain (University of Alberta). She was an inspired proponent of interfaith dialogue as vice-chairperson of Vision TV, chairperson of the World Interfaith Education Association and co-founder of the Edmonton Interfaith Centre. Invested into the Order of Canada in 2002 for her contributions to the Muslim community and her work on behalf of abused women, Fahlman was the first Muslim woman to be honoured in this way.

“I believe in what I am doing, and I believe it should be done.”