OTTAWA, ON (April 9, 2019): With ISIS facing complete collapse, Canada is now forced to deal with an uncomfortable reality; there are Canadians who joined or supported movements such as ISIS and Al-Qaeda who are coming home or are already here.

The Government of Canada is constantly working to keep Canadian families and communities safe from terrorism and violent extremism. Engaging with communities is part of the Government’s approach to preventing radicalization to violence before tragedies occur. To assist these efforts, the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, the Honourable Ralph Goodale, announced the launch of a National Expert Committee on Countering Radicalization to Violence on February 7, 2019.

Sheikh Waleed Basyouni has been invited by Al Maghrib Institute Canada to speak about the dangers of violent religious extremism in Ottawa on Sunday, April 5th. Muslim Link interviewed the Egyptian American graduate of Saudi Arabia’s Al-Imam Muhammad University, who is currently an imam in Texas’s Clear Lake Islamic Center, about why he feels it is important for Muslims to speak out against groups like ISIS.

Born and raised in Montreal, Indo-Pakistani Canadian Navaid Aziz, 33, stumbled upon a vocation as an Islamic scholar when he was accepted to the Islamic University of Madinah in Saudi Arabia at 17. Now an imam in Calgary, Aziz will be coming to Ottawa’s I.LEAD Conference to discuss youth empowerment, countering radicalization in Muslim communities, and creating a balanced and just Muslim community.

Musleh Khan, one of North America’s youngest imams, serves at the Sakinah Community Center in Toronto. Educated at the University of Medina, the city where he was born to Indo-Caribbean parents, Khan has been recognized for his ability to make some of Islam’s most complicated concepts easier to understand.

Muslim Link caught up with Khan at the Jami Omar fundraising dinner. In this exclusive interview, Khan shares his thoughts on how to prevent youth radicalization and gang involvement, as well as how to effectively engage youth and increase ethno-cultural diversity in mosques.

I won't pretend that last week's video by John Maguire didn't shake me. It did. You see, besides the petrifying idea of someone attacking my countrymen in the name of my religion, it suddenly hit me that that individual who is preaching violence in the name of my religion is also targeting Me, my family, my friends, the teachers who shaped and encouraged my intellectual development, my coworkers who hired and supported me in my career, my neighbours who've helped when those snow trucks create a snow bank on my driveway after I've spent an hour breaking my back shovelling it!
Everyone I know. Everyone I've ever known.

Currently, Dr. Scott Flower from the University of Melbourne in Australia is looking for Canadian converts to Islam to particpate in his study of the Canadian Muslim Convert experience. His Canadian-based research collaborator Megan Ryder Burbidge contacted Muslim Link so we could promote the study within our networks. We wanted to know more about the study's objectives and funding first. Here is what we learned.

In the Name of God, the Most Beneficent and Merciful

Ottawa-Gatineau Imams Reject ISIS Message Advocating Violence

La version française suivra

(December 10, 2014) As Canadian Muslims who have been entrusted with religious leadership in our communities, we the undersigned imams, are deeply troubled by the latest ISIS propaganda video featuring a Muslim from our city, Ottawa.

Condemn video message as "abhorrent and un-Islamic"

(Ottawa – December 8, 2014) Following the release of a video message attributed to ISIS, the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), a prominent Muslim civil liberties & advocacy organization, reiterates that Canadian Muslims categorically condemn the terror group's calls for violence against Canada and other nations.

On November 8th, I was invited to speak at the Muslim Coordinating Council's "Turning the Tides: A Panel Discussion on Young Muslim Radicalization and Crime Prevention".

I was particularly pleased that a Muslim youth, Afnan Khan, was given the lead on organizing the panel and moderating the discussion. Muslim organizations need to give more space to younger Muslims to organize and lead sessions that have to do with issues youth are facing.