Hilwie Hamdon

Summary

Hilwie Jomha Hamdon was a Muslim woman from Edmonton, Alberta, who organized support and funding to build the first mosque in Canada, the Al-Rashid Mosque. She was born in current day Lebanon in 1905. Not much is known about her early life. She married Ali Hamdon who had immigrated to Canada 1901, and together they settled in Fort Chipewyan, Alberta, where Ali Hamdon had established a successful fur trading business. After their children were born, they moved to Edmonton, which was a much larger city with well-established schools. Hilwie Hamdon had six children: Evelyn, Lavida, Moneer, Sidney, Helen and Lewis.