It was a defining moment for the growing Muslim community as members of disparate organisations and associations came together to celebrate the achievements of their own.

The Jan. 19 event, hosted by the Muslim Coordinatin

g Council (MCC) and the Ottawa Muslim Association (OMA), honoured 20 Ottawa Muslim recipients of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Award.

“This is the first time in Ottawa that 42 Muslim organizations joined hands in a community-wide celebration of our contributions to Canada,” the MCC said in a statement issued after the event.

The Muslim Coordinating Council of the National Capital Region is grateful that nine Muslims in the region are receiving the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Award on the recommendation of the council.

To mark the Queen of England's sixty years on the throne, a commemorative medal is being bestowed on deserving Canadians across the country.

Among those who have already received the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal is Mohammed Azhar Ali Khan, a retired civil servant and refugee judge who is also a journalist and founder of the Muslim Coordinating Council of the National Capital Region (MCC-NCR).

Sheema Khan, whose monthly columns appear in the Globe and Mail, and who is the founder of the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations, was also bestowed with the honour.