News

Muslim Link interviewed Rayanne Bendaoud about how her encounter with a Syrian refugee in Ottawa inspired her to organize the United for Syria Soccer Tournament this Saturday, July 23rd to raise money for refugees supported by the United Nations’ Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

(If you would like to register as a team or individual for this all ages tournament click here for details.)

On June 15, members of Ottawa’s Muslim communities were invited for an iftar (meal to break the Ramadan fast) on Parliament Hill sponsored by 19 Members of Parliament (MPs) including Ahmed Hussen, Alexandra Mendes, Ali Ehsassi, Arif Virani, Bill Blair, Chandra Arya, Fayçal El-Khoury, Greg Fergus, Iqra Khalid, Majid Jowhari, Marwan Tabbara, Maryam Monsef, Omar Alghabra, Rob Oliphant, Salma Zahid, Shaun Chen, Terry Duguid, Yasmin Ratansi, and Ziad Aboultaif.

The event was co-sponsored by the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) and Paramount Fine Foods.

Muslim Link’s Publisher Mohammad Dourou and Editor in Chief Chelby Marie Daigle were honoured to be among the over 600 invited guests who gathered at the Sir John A. Macdonald Building.

The Muslim Association of Canada (MAC) is holding its annual Eid al Fitr prayer and hallmark Muslim Summer Festival together on July 6th from 8am to 8pm at the Ernst & Young Centre.

Participants will also have an opportunity to make their Zakat donations to Islamic Relief Canada, one of the event's sponsors, who have secured a private donor to match all the donations given at the event. 

Muslim Summer Festival (MSF) is recognized by the City of Ottawa as an important city wide event and is a recipient of the Celebrate Ontario grant.

This year's Eid will be the first Eid celebrated by a very large number of Syrian refugees in Ottawa and MAC is working to ensure many of them will attend this Festival.

Muslim Link spoke to the festival organizers about what participants have to look forward to this year.

Serenity Islamic Mental Health Awareness held its first conference from May 20th to 22nd at the Ahlul Bayt Centre and the Carleton University Campus.

Along with tackling an important but often taboo subject within Ottawa’s Muslim communities, mental illness, the conference also marked an unprecedented collaboration between members of Ottawa’s Sunni and Shia communities.

Sisters Madeha and Fariha Irshad are collaborating again for this year’s Eid Bazaar at Jami Omar, taking place from 12pm to 6pm Saturday, June 25th. Muslim Link interviewed the sisters about how they are trying to build the Bazaar into an annual community event.

University of Ottawa students Nora Abdalaal, Tuba Yousuf, Jawdat Saleh, and Nour Khalaf, have raised enough funds to provide meals for a number of people at the Ottawa Mission this Friday, June 24th.  Volunteers are still welcome to get involved to help with preparation and distribution.

Muslim Link interviewed the students about their “Break Your Fast with Charity : Feed the Mission” Ramadan initiative.

The University of Ottawa’s Social Wellness Club has joined a Group of Five to privately sponsor a Syrian family. They are crowdfunding $5,000 over Ramadan as their contribution to this joint effort. Financial contributions can be made online here.

Muslim Link interviewed the club members about their initiative.

The United Muslim Organizations of Ottawa Gatineau (UMO-OG) strongly condemn the mass shooting in Orlando on Sunday, June 12, 2016. We extend our sincerest condolences to the victims and their families.

We believe that human life is sacred in Islam and protecting it is one of the main objectives of our religion. Such horrible acts of hatred and violence are forbidden in Islam and we firmly stand against any and all attempts to link these crimes to our faith.

Naheed Khan wants Ottawa’s Muslim community to contact their city councillors and ask that the Ottawa Transit Commission agree to provide a low-income transit pass for Ottawa’s low-income residents.

Muslim Link interviewed to Ottawa-based entrepreneur and university student Nayaelah Siddiqui, founder of EIDY, a product aimed at helping children celebrate Ramadan who live in non-Muslim majority countries.

The Council of Imams of Ottawa-Gatineau and the United Muslim Organizations of Ottawa-Gatineau are raising funds to present to CHEO on behalf of the Muslim community, live during their annual Telethon on CTV Ottawa this weekend, June 4-5.

The National Council on Canada-Arab Relations (NCCAR) and the Canadian Arab Institute (CAI) are collaborating to host the Diversity in Parliament Reception on Wednesday, May 18th at the City of Ottawa. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet and engage with several of the current Arab Canadian Members of Parliament. Retired Senator Pierre De Bané, Canada’s first Arab Member of Parliament, will also be a guest of honour. Proceeds from the event will be going towards scholarships for Syrian newcomers and youth parliamentary internships.

The United Muslim Organizations of Ottawa-Gatineau were able to raise $64,000 in donations for Fort McMurray Fire Relief. Much of these donations came in from the Muslim community at Friday Prayer Services on May 6th. These donations are being channelled through the Canadian Red Cross, so they will be matched dollar for dollar by the Canadian government inshallah.

The team behind Serenity Islamic Mental Health Awareness is organizing a major conference from May 20th to 22nd to destigmatize mental illness within Muslim communities in Ottawa. Subjects that will be discussed during the conference will include depression, suicide, and addiction. “We want to destigmatize the mystery around mental illness and normalize it because it’s there every day,” Berak Hussain, the conference director, stated. Berak, an Iraqi Canadian professional counsellor, works with Carleton University’s Health and Counselling Services, who have endorsed the event.

Students at Maingate Islamic Academy in Mississauga participated in a workshop called The Blanket Exercise, which explores the impact of colonialism on the indigenous peoples of Canada. Student reporters from the school Zaynab Mamai, Sumaya Abdulle, and Dima Traboulsi, with the support of their teacher,  Sanaa Ali-Mohammed, wrote the following article about their experience.

Last year, Haitian Canadian Fatima Estime visited the drought stricken village of Desab in Haiti. The village is facing chronic challenges around accessing clean water. Fatima is now determined to work to help support the village.

Muslim Link interviewed Fatima about her experience in Haiti, including visiting with Haiti's Muslim communities, and her work to collect resources and find sustainable access to clean water for Desab. She hopes to return there this summer.

The I.LEAD Conference returns to Ottawa this Saturday, April 16th. This year’s theme is Living the Legacy: Those Who Believe and Do Righteous Deeds. 

Members of the Pakistani Students Association (PSA) of Carleton and the University of Ottawa organized a vigil on March 29th in honour of the victims of the terrorist attack in Lahore, Pakistan during Easter Weekend.

Like other communities of diverse faiths, Muslim Canadian have made great contributions to Canadian society. However, focus tends to fall on the association of Muslims with terrorists rather than Muslims as positive community builders and contributors. To turnaround this narrative, a group of Muslim Canadian professionals in Toronto organized the Muslim Awards for Excellence (MAX) Gala on March 24th at the Ritz Carleton to spotlight the achievements of Muslims in Canada.

On February 17th, the Ottawa Hijab Solidarity Day was held at City Hall. The City for All Women Initiative (CAWI) partnered with the Ottawa Coalition to End Violence Against Women, the Ottawa Local Immigration Partnership (OLIP), and the Coalition of Community Health and Resource Centres to hold the event.