Muslim Link is continuing its series Muslims of Ottawa. At the Canadian Muslims for Peace, we asked Muslims who attended: What Does Peace Mean To You? Here is the response of Mohammad Mousa who studies Conflict Studies and Human Rights at the University of Ottawa.

Muslim Link is continuing its series Muslims of Ottawa. At the Arabian Canadian Bazaar, we asked Arab Muslims from Ottawa the question: What Do You Want The World to Know about Arab Culture?. Here is an executive member of Carleton University's Salam: Reviving the Arab Culture, Mohamed El Koussy's response.

Muslim Link is continuing its series Muslims of Ottawa. At the Arabian Canadian Bazaar, we asked Arab Muslims from Ottawa the question: What Do You Want The World to Know about Arab Culture?. Here is Assma Galuta, aka Asoomii Jay's response.

Muslim Link is continuing its series Muslims of Ottawa. At the Arabian Canadian Bazaar, we asked Arab Muslims from Ottawa the question: What Do You Want The World to Know about Arab Culture?. Here is a volunteer with Youth Yemen Gentler & Softer Hearts, Sarah Al Akbari's response.

Muslim Link is continuing its series Muslims of Ottawa. At the Arabian Canadian Bazaar, we asked Arab Muslims from Ottawa the question: What Do You Want The World to Know about Arab Culture?. Here is a volunteer with the Palestinian Students' Association of Carleton University, Hind Al Hassoun's response.

Muslim Link is continuing its series Muslims of Ottawa. At the Arabian Canadian Bazaar, we asked Arab Muslims from Ottawa the question: What Do You Want The World to Know about Arab Culture?. Here is Heba Jallad's response.

"With our last post, we marked the end of our Muslims of Ottawa photography project. We've come across twenty very extraordinary people, heard their challenges, sorrows and driving influences. The purpose of this project was simply to connect with Muslims in our local community and give back by simply revealing their humanity. We're so inundated with political and skewed social narratives, the fundamental building block of our community is obscured from view: you, the loving, salt-of-earth people that make up the Muslim community.

Whether it was Abu Ahmed talking about his love for his farm and Arabian horses, Bibi and her steadfast determination to not let any "disability" deter her from her love of education or Nicole sharing with us the very heartfelt story of the loss of her father – we learned that these people can be defined by no one other than themselves. And despite the diversity in the cross section of people we encountered, we observed some interesting commonalities such as a steadfast commitment to social justice, a deep and abiding appreciation for being Canadian, a love for family and most common, a strong belief in giving back to the wider community.

This was a deeply humbling and reflective experience for us and we're extremely grateful to have met these wonderful people and the opportunity to share their photographs and stories. Thanks to everyone for supporting this project, for your likes, comments and ideas. We're going to do our best to bring you more interesting and fun projects and hope we can continue to count on your support."

~ Batoul & Ali of abcreatives

"I grew up in a small, rural village in India. And at the time, education was not easily available. We had to struggle, walk long distances and work hard. Our parents supported us very much. And then, I made it to study at Aligarh Muslim College, a prestigious university in India, and the day before I graduated, my father died. It was so difficult because I had so many plans. I was always thinking of what was after my school so I could support and help them like they did for me in my education. It was very difficult.

When I left India, I was flying to New York City. This was my first time coming to North America. Sitting next to me was an American and an Irishmen. The plane was descending and we could see the cars on the streets as we came close to landing. They asked me what I thought about America. We hadn't landed yet and I had never been to America before but I saw that the cars were driving on the right side of the road. In India, the direction is from the left. So I told them, 'America is always right'!"

~ Mazhar at the Intercultural Dialogue Institute

"The main thing is the crime. The sad thing for me to see is a neighbourhood I grew up in is always in the news for the wrong reasons, especially with names similar to mine. We need to be more proud of ourselves and fight for a better future rather than being known for terrorism around the world. We need to have more youth involvement and get our youth off the streets, doing more positive things, playing sports and representing our community in a better light."

~ Hussein - ran for city council for Ottawa-South

“What I love about Canada is the human rights. People always respect each other. That’s why I’m so proud to be Canadian. Even more than Indonesian. I feel secure for my future. Especially for my kids.”

~ Titin