Zarqa Nawaz is probably the funniest Canadian Muslim woman in the country.

Even her Skype ID is quirky, naming a part of her foot. “Don’t ask!” she writes in an email, no doubt with a chuckle. Nawaz, the creator of the hit series Little Mosque on the Prairie, is currently promoting her new book which offers yet further glimpses into her (hilarious) experiences growing up in Canada.

She spoke via Skype with Muslim Link.

For the first time in Ottawa, Muslim business women got a chance to come together to network, share ideas and learn about each other. This networking event was organized by the Muslim Women’s Business Network of Ottawa (MWBNO) on Saturday April 12th, 2014. The event was a huge success and was attended by a total of 28 women which consisted of beauticians, lawyers, professional consultants, etc.

The Muslim Women’s Business Network of Ottawa was established in March 2014 by two women entrepreneurs: Jessica Keats and Mahwash Fatima. They wanted to create a platform where Muslim business women could come together to network, mentor, and share their ideas and experiences.

It all started 6 years ago on her daughter’s seventh birthday. Using icing tips she had bought from the dollar store, Sobia Kamran created a beautiful cake that impressed her family and friends.

Like many women these days, Sobia wanted to stay home with her kids but also wanted to utilize her creativity and talent. She started baking cakes and cupcakes for events like school bake sales and friend’s parties and pretty soon became a baking expert. With a little encouragement from her husband, this little hobby soon turned into a part-time business opportunity.

Muslim Link interviewed Zainab Hussain about choosing her non-traditional major, unveiling her show Unseen/Seen, and the challenges and joys of being a Muslim Fine Arts student and artist.

In this installment of my column, I interview just one local convert about her experiences raising her children as Muslim while having non-Muslim parents. Dr. Aisha Sherazi was born and raised in the UK, and migrated to Canada in 2000. She hails from a Hindu family, and is of Indian origin. She writes freelance editorials in various newspapers and resides in Ottawa, Canada. She now works as a spiritual counsellor for teenagers and teachers at Merivale High School, and conducts workshops across the city on the dangers of stereotyping. She helps represent the Muslim Community of Ottawa on COMPAC for the Ottawa Police Service and sits on the board of the Islamic Social Services Association of Canada. Happily married with two busy children, she also writes poetry and fiction in her spare time

Like many of her peers, at 22, Nafeesa Salar had her hands full with her full-time university and a part-time job. But her love and passion for art and design inspired her to take a bold move two years ago and launch her own business, Salar Event Planning, a Montreal-based event planning company.

As rare as it is to find a practicing Muslimah who is also an entrepreneur, it is rarer still to find a Muslim man who supports his wife in starting and running a home based business.

The editor of a successful American Muslim women's magazine was in the nation's capital as part of a country-wide tour commissioned by the U.S. Embassy last month.

Azizah Magazine Editor-in-Chief, Tayyibah Taylor, was in town to discuss media portrayals of Muslim women, and how her magazine has aimed to shatter stereotypes. Muslim Link's Miriam Katawazi was get a one-one-one interview with Taylor, who was named one of the 500 Most Influential Muslims by Jordan's The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies. Born in Trinidad to parents from Barbados and raised in Toronto, Canada, Taylor embraced Islam at the age of 19.

Sana Khan began shadowing experienced henna artists at age 21. Within a few years, she had co-founded a business. Now, at 24, she's launched her solo career and is hoping to profit from increasing demand.

Traditionally henna tattoos are worn by women from South Asian, Arab, and African backgrounds for celebrations such as Eid (Islamic festivals). Elaborate henna ceremonies often form part of wedding celebrations as well.

World Hijab Day aims to counter the often negative associations non-Muslims and some Muslims have with the hijab. Celebrated on February 1st, it was started in New York in 2013 by Bangladeshi American Nazma Khan and is now celebrated in over 50 countries worldwide.