Becoming a Muslim is easy - you just say the Shahada (testimony of faith): “I bear witness that there is no God but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger” …and you’re in!

The the US-based Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative (MuslimARC) is producing a series of community-specific anti-racism guides.

Italian Canadian Nakita Valerio is a community organizer based in Edmonton, Alberta, in addition to running her own editing business at “The Drawing Board”.

Muslim Link’s Aicha Lasfar had an opportunity to interview Deen Squad this summer while they were recording in Ottawa. Accompanied by her husband Ryan Fournier, an Islamic School teacher and long-time friend of Deen Squad’s Ghanaian Canadian Jae Deen and Lebanese Canadian Karter Zaher, the interview explores the group’s journey from Ottawa to Dubai and beyond.

Muslim Link would like to thank Ottawa’s Poet Laureate Jamaal Rogers for providing space for the interview at The Origin Arts & Community Centre.

Steven Zhou is a journalist and editor who focuses on international security-related affairs, often in the post-9/11 context. He has worked and consulted on a number of initiatives aimed at implementing effective counter-terrorism and civic engagement measures among Western Muslim populations. He has worked as a journalist for The Ottawa Citizen and for CBC-Radio’s Day 6 program. He is currently an associate editor of the The Islamic Monthly magazine and is a frequent op-ed contributor for CBC News online. His writings have also appears on Al Jazeera English, Al Jazeera America, The Globe and Mail, Buzzfeed Canada, The American Conservative, and Embassy Magazine, among other outlets.  Steven studied Socio-cultural Anthropology at the University of Toronto before obtaining his Master of Journalism at Carleton University.

Muslim Link received this letter to the editor from Hailey DeJong in Ottawa. Hailey wears niqab (face veil) and wanted to find a way to thank the OC Transpo bus driver who stood up to a fellow passenger who was harassing Hailey by making Islamophobic remarks. 

One Muslim woman is devoting much of her time to raise awareness about Islam across small town Ontario through a series of presentations and interfaith dialogue.

Barbara Helms was born in Saskatchewan to American parents, who were both accomplished classical musicians teaching in Canada. Shortly after she was born the family moved back to the United States, where Helms was raised with her older sister in Princeton, NJ. She returned to Canada in her 20s to study at McGill University.

Australian academic Dr. Scott Flower came to Ottawa on July 25th to discuss his current research on Canadian converts to Islam. He admits that it has been hard to find Canadian converts willing to be interviewed for his current national study of conversion to Islam in Canada, funded through Project Kaniskha, which is managed by Public Safety Canada. And yes, he gets it-“It’s the whole government anti-terrorism connection!”

Two members of Ottawa's Muslim community, both converts to Islam, wrote into Muslim Link discussing their experiences during Ramadan.

Recently, as I skimmed through my housemate’s book treasures, I found a new addition to her collection with the title “Signs on the Horizons” by Michael Sugich. Later that day, coincidently, I was informed of the author’s planned visit to Ottawa next week for a series of events hosted by Sanad Collective (see events details at the end of the article).