On Sunday, October 1st, the Black Muslim Initiative-Ottawa will be having its first gathering. This will create a space for Black Muslims to discuss the challenges of life at the intersection of anti-Black racism and Islamophobia in Canada, as well as the strength that comes from having both the Black and Muslim traditions of resistance and resilience to draw from when facing these challenges.

It will also be an opportunity to meet award-winning Somali Canadian journalist Eman Idil Bare, who has recently moved to Ottawa to work as a producer on CBC's Power and Politics. Eman has been outspoken in calling attention to the issue of anti-Black racism within Muslim communties. Read Eman's CBC article about what self-identifying as Black means for young Torontonians here.

Palestinian Canadian Qasem Mahmud passed away earlier this summer. Although many younger Muslim and Palestinian Canadians in Ottawa may not know his name, many have been impacted by his legacy.

In honour of Islamic Heritage Month in October, Muslim Link hopes to publish an article showcasing the impact of Brother Qasem Mahmud's legacy. If you would like to share your reflections on how his community work has influenced you, from his establishment of the tradition of Muslim youth camps at Long Bay to the establishment of the Association of Palestinian Arab Canadians (APAC), we welcome your submissions of stories and photos. Please send them to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Ottawa-based writer Zul M. Khalfan gives us an overview of Brother Mahmud's life in this tribute to his friend.

Bangladeshi Canadian Dr. Nabiha Islam is traveling to Bangladesh this month to provide medical relief to Rohingya refugees. She is currently fundraising online to help cover the costs of various medical services that will be offered to refugees through the charity Hope Foundation for Women and Children in Bangladesh.

Hope Foundation is a US-based charity run by the Bangladeshi diaspora. They run a 40-bed hospital in Ramu, Cox's Bazar, an area where many Rohingya refugees are settling in as it is only 10 km from the border with Myanmar.

Muslim Link interviewed Dr. Islam about why she is travelling to Bangladesh to help the Rohingya and what medical issues the refugees are facing.

Next Monday, Pakistani Canadian Aatif Baskanderi will be starting a trip across Newfoundland sharing his personal story as a Muslim growing up in the province. Aatif will be travelling over 2000km across Newfoundland visit 7 towns over 11 days. Many of these communities have sponsored Syrian refugees. He will be speaking at high schools, libraries and the provincial university. He is currently crowdfunding on LaunchGood to cover the cost of making the documentary “Salaam B'y - A Story of a Muslim Newfoundlander”,  based on this trip in collaboration with award-winning filmmaker Amar Wala, best known for his work The Secret Trial 5 (2014).

In light of the current humanitarian crisis and violence being experienced by the Rohingya community in Myanmar/Burma and Bangladesh, Muslim Link is sharing the stories of Rohingya refugees who have made a home in Canada.

Yasmine Ullah is a Rohingya refugee living in Vancouver, BC. She is part of a Rohingya women-led initiative, spearheaded by her mother, who are crowfunding on LaunchGood to help support Rohingya community members who are staying in Burma amid the current violence.

Yasmine has been speaking publicly about the plight of the Rohingya, including the dire situation faced by her own family members currently in Burma, at local mosques and to mainstream media such as CBC.