L’essence salon is the latest entrepreneurial adventure for Turkish Canadian couple Mustafa and Selma Elevli. Muslim Link sat down with the couple to talk about their beauty salon and the lessons they have learned over their years as a business-owning family in Ottawa.

On Wednesday, March 18th, students at the University of Ottawa gathered to take photos and to speak out against discrimination against Muslim women who veil in Canada. The action was initiated by Civil Law student Hina Ansari and led by fellow Civil Law student Assma Basalamah and Common Law student Aruba Mustafa, who is also the president of the university’s Muslim Law Students’ Association (MLSA).

A twitter photo by Amna Qureshi just went viral. Posted in protest of Montrealer Rania El-Alloul being told by Judge Eliana Marengo that she had to remove her hijab in order to be “suitably dressed” in a “secular” Canadian courtroom. The incident made the ongoing Islamophobia that Muslim women who wear hijab or niqab face in accessing services a national issue. It also raised the question of how Muslim women lawyers who veil will be treated within the legal system.
As part of Muslim Link’s ongoing So You Want To… Series where we interview Muslims about their programs of study or career choices, Amna Qureshi, a graduate from the Law School at the University of Ottawa discusses the opportunities and challenges pursuing a law degree offers for Muslim women. A Pakistani Canadian, Qureshi now works as a staff lawyer at Legal Aid Alberta.

Back in Grade 5, I recall leafing through my new social studies textbook on the first week of school. My teacher at the time explained that that year, we would be learning about Canada and the history of the Canadian government. As I flipped through the pages, an image caught my eye. It was the floor plan of the House of Commons. Someone raised their hand to ask where the Prime Minister sat and our teacher pointed us to the legend describing which labels on the plan were which on the floor: Prime Minister, the Opposition, the Speaker, clerks...

Muslim Link’s new series “So You Want To…” interviews students and established professionals for advice and reflections on their various fields of study and professions, with the aim of helping other Muslims aspiring to join those fields.

In this article, Arab Canadian law student Assma Basalamah discusses her experience as a law student in Ottawa.

Mirrors and Mirages a Novel by Monia Mazigh (House of Anansi, 2014; $22.95)

Monia Mazigh's debut novel, Mirrors and Mirages: a Novel, has enriched Canadian literature. 

Muslim Link caught up with 17 year old Palestinian spoken word poet Haneen Al-Hassoun aka Freedom Writer as she prepares to compete in this week’s Youth Can Slam National Youth Poetry Festival.

Rabia Khedr is no regular applicant for the position of City Council, Ward 6 in Mississauga. This dynamic mother of four is a graduate of the University of Toronto in Mississauga, an active member and leader within her community and a decade long veteran on the Mississauga Accessibility Advisory committee. She also lives with a disability – Khedr is legally blind.

Like any other Muslim mompreneur, Rabiya Moola is energetic, passionate, and inspirational. Her vision is to change the way Muslim women are portrayed, and she’s doing this all in her sixties.

There are concerns that younger voters might not be very engaged in this year’s Ontario provincial election. Muslim Link has sought out young Muslims in Ontario who are working, volunteering, or running with each major party in the provincial election to get their opinion about why it is important to be engaged in provincial politics. Our second interview is with Samiha Rayeda who is volunteering with New Democratic Party (NDP) Candidate Jennifer Mackenzie who is running in the riding of Ottawa Centre.