Fatima Garsi is a group and private coach in athletics, martial arts, and nutrition. She is the founder of Sister Fit, a fitness and martial arts program for women and girls in the GTA.

Muslim Link interviewed her about her multicultural background and how her love of martial arts helped her connect with the diversity of Muslim women in the GTA.

Muslim Canadian journalist Muhammad Lila from Toronto crowdfunded for a gift for Jake Taylor, an ordinary Canadian who intervened during the violent Islamophobia-motivated assault of a young Muslim woman, Noor Fadel, on the Skytrain in Vancouver in November.

As Noor Fadel stated on her Instagram, "Out of all the passengers he alone stepped in and protected me. He got off the train and comforted me until police paramedics came by. He means the world to me and more than anything I’m honoured to call him a friend."

Muslim Link had the opportunity to interview Pakistani Canadian social media influencer Aima Warriach who wears niqab. Her profile as part of The Sisters Project by artist Alia Youssef recently appeared in The Globe and Mail. Aima is the winner of the Create Dialogue Challenge via Adobe 1324 and TEDxTeen. She is also a 2017 MAX Gala finalized in their Film for Change video competition. She is currently studying politics and governance at Ryerson University in Toronto.

The Ontario Physiotherapy Association is currently running a campaign called ##PhysioHelpsLives to educate Ontarians about physiotherapy.

Muslim Link spoke to physiotherapists Mohamed Fouda and Keltouma Nouah. Fouda is the manager of Prime Physio Plus Clinic in Ottawa and Nouah is a recent graduate of the University of Ottawa’s Master in Physiotherapy program who works at the Prime Physio Plus Clinic. We asked them about physiotherapy’s benefits, why more Muslims should consider seeing a physiotherapist, and why Muslim youth should consider a career in physiotherapy.

The Canadian Association of Muslim Women in Law (CAMWL) is dismayed at the recent passage of Bill 62: “An Act Respecting Religious Neutrality”, by the Liberal Government of Quebec. The law discriminatorily targets Muslim women who wear face veils. It prohibits public servants (including health care professionals, teachers and daycare employees) who wear the niqab from providing services to the public, and prevents veiled Muslim women from receiving provincial and municipal public services (including riding the bus, visiting the library and seeing a doctor).

CAMWL condemns this legislation as both discriminatory and unconstitutional for the following reasons:

Somali Canadian Rowda Mohamud won the inaugural Ross and Davis Mitchell Prize for Faith and Writing on October 31st, as part of the Faith in 150 initiative, for her collection of poetry reflecting on her experiences of faith in Islam, racism, Islamophobia, and identity as a Muslim woman in Canada. The prize is ten thousand dollars.

October was Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM) Awareness Month. According to the Toronto Brain Vascular Malformation Study Group: "An AVM is a tangle of abnormal and poorly formed blood vessels (arteries and veins). They have a higher rate of bleeding than normal vessels. AVMs can occur anywhere in the body.  Brain AVMs are of special concern because of the damage they cause when they bleed. They are very rare and occur in less than 1% of the general population."

The risk of bleeding with AVM increases as a person ages. The typical age of discovery is between the ages of 20 to 40. Bleeding can often result in stroke, resulting in permanent disability and even death. There are treatments to reduce the risk of bleeding. The cause of AVM is unknown but it is believed to develop in utero and affects all races and genders.

Muslim Link took the opportunity to interview a young member of Ottawa's Muslim community Anne-Marie Lavallee, about her experience as someone with AVM in order to help our readers better understand a condition which, although rare, can have a serious impact on the lives of those who live with it.

Gord Downie, the lead singer of the Canadian band The Tragically Hip, passed away on October 17, 2017 due to cancer. The Tragically Hip are one of the most beloved music groups in Canada's history. Gord Downie sang and wrote most of The Hip's songs. Through tears Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke about Gord Downie by stating: “Gord was my friend, but Gord was everyone’s friend. He knew, as great as [Canadians] were, we needed to be better than we are. Our buddy Gord, who loved this country with everything he had, and not just loved it in a nebulous ‘oh, I love Canada way,’ he loved every hidden corner, every story, every aspect of this country that he celebrated his whole life.”

Somali Canadian writer Rowda Mohamud shared the following reflection on the impact a lyric from The Tragically Hip's song Bobcaygeon, written by Gord Downie, had on her as a newcomer to Canada, after having arrived as a refugee with her family in the 1990s. The song is named after the town of Bobcaygeon, Ontario in the Kawartha Lakes region.

On Saturday, October 21, folks in Toronto had an opportunity to hear from some emerging artists from Canada’s vibrant Black Muslim community. The Stars Within Us: A Black Muslimah Poetry & Theatre Showcase will debut original works developed in the Stellar (R)evolution (cycle 1) workshop series, a SPARK Cultural Hotspot program created and facilitated by Timaj Garad in partnership with the City of Toronto, also supported by I-Insight and the Children's Peace Theatre.

Muslim Link interviewed Spoken word poet Timaj Garad and two workshop participants, Shukria D. and Hafsa Ali,  who performed on Saturday, about why it is important to create spaces for young Black Muslim Canadian women to share their stories through art.

A group of Bangladeshi Canadian women living in Ottawa came together in 2015 to raise funds for maternal and newborn health in Bangladesh. They have started holding annual Bangladeshi cultural celebrations in Ottawa in order to raise funds and awareness about the health issues facing poor mothers in Bangladesh. The group, called Cure for Women and Children works in collaboration with Human Concern International. Their most recent event was their second annual Sheether Mela on October 15, 2017 held at SNMC mosque in Ottawa.

Muslim Link interviewed them about their work.