Islamic History Month was first recognized in the province of Manitoba. It has been recognized federally since 2007 and on October 6, 2016 it was recognized in Ontario, the province with Canada's largest Muslim population. The bill to recognize Islamic History Month in Ontario was introduced by the Provincial NDP. Below are two press releases, one from the Liberal Party of Ontario and one from the NDP of Ontario discussing Islamic History Month in Ontario.

Muslim Link interviewed university student Zein Ahmed who is fundraising to support Yemeni refugees to have fled to Djibouti, a small country in the Horn of Africa. She will be visiting them during this Christmas break when she returns to Djibouti to visit family. She hopes to raise $8000 by December 22nd. Check out her GoFundMe Page.

Tens of thousands of Yemeni refugees have sought refuge in Somalia, Djibouti and Ethiopia, countries which are themselves struggling with food insecurity. Ahmed reflects on the little attention the world has given to the Yemeni crisis, and what she hopes Muslims and other Canadians will do to support her community.

A group of Muslims in Toronto have come together to create ILM Weekend (January 21-22, 2017), where Muslims and non-Muslims will come together to brainstorm and develop innovative products and services for Muslims.

The deadline to apply to participate in the weekend is October 15, 11:59 pm. Click here for more information.

Muslim Link interviewed the team to learn why they felt this was in important initiative.

This Eid al Adha was special for a group of Muslim children in our city that our community sometimes forgets. The Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa (CASO), Children’s Aid Foundation of Ottawa (CAFO), Muslim Family Services of Ottawa (MFSO), and CAS Friends collaborated to ensure that Muslim children living in foster care still got to participate in the blessings of this special holiday. Through proceeds raised through fundraising within the wider Muslim community and volunteer efforts, children not only received Eid gifts, including calligraphy of their name by local artist Chaker Zouari, but they also received qurbani meat to share with the support of Al Furat Meat Shop. CASO paid for 1/3 of the lamb, CAFO paid for another 1/3, and the rest of the cost was covered by fundraising in the Muslim community.

Muslim Link interviewed Cindy R. Perron, the Communications Supervisor for CASO, Karim Mekki, MFSO’s Community Liaison Worker, and Sawsane El Khatib, a volunteer with CAS Friends, about how this initiative came together.

In 2015, Palestinian Canadian Habib Khoury founded the Ottawa Run for Palestine (ORFP).

The run is back again after last year’s success. This year, the run will be taking place on Sunday, September 25th at the Aviation Museum, followed by a BBQ featuring Palestinian cuisine.

The run raises funds for UNRWA’s Community Mental Health Program in Gaza and is part of an international movement aimed at supporting the people of Gaza.

Muslim Link interviewed Habib about this year’s run.

On Saturday, August 20th, community members are encouraged to attend the Run for the Horn Marathon and BBQ at Britannia Beach to raise awareness about mental health issues in Ottawa and to raise funds to support the Habeeb Mental Health Foundation in Mogadishu, Somalia.

Muslim Link interviewed the team behind this event.

The Justice for Abdirahman Coalition is asking that members of the community contact their elected representatives at the municipal, provincial, and federal levels by September 5th to demand justice for Abdirahman Abdi.

The following is the statement released by the Justice for Abdirahman Abdi Coalition on August 14th at the City of Ottaa where several reccommendations were made to various government institutions in relation to this case.  

To learn more about the Justice for Abdirahman Coalition visit their website here.

This is the Canadian Somali Mothers’ Association’s official statement regarding the vicious killing of Abdirahman Abdi by Ottawa Police Officers on Sunday, July 24 th , 2016, and the impact of the killing on the Ottawa Black Community.

Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatulaahi wa Barakatuhu
To our valued Somali Community of Ottawa,

On this most difficult time in our community, the Ottawa Police Service would like to express our sincere condolences first to Abdirahman Abdi’s family ( inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'oon) and to the entire Somali Community in Ottawa.