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There are concerns that younger voters might not be very engaged in this year’s Ontario provincial election. Muslim Link has sought out young Muslims in Ontario who are working, volunteering, or running with each major party in the provincial election to get their opinion about why it is important to be engaged in provincial politics. Our first interview is with Adnan Ali who is volunteering with Progressive Conservative Candidate Jack MacLaren in Carleton-Mississippi Mills in Ottawa.

“Praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds. The All-Merciful, the Very-Merciful…You alone do we worship, and from You alone do we seek help...”

(Holy Qur’an, 1, 1:6)

A rainy day in May – it’s cold and grey, the perfect day to stay in with a good book and a cup of coffee. Not so for the ILEAD team of youth volunteers who are responsible of making promo videos for the conference.

Advocating for affordable housing in Ottawa, faith groups from the Jewish, Christian, Unitarian, and Muslim communities took on the pouring rain to participate in this year’s Tulipathon walk.

Hosted by the Multifaith Housing Initiative (MHI), a non-profit coalition in Ottawa, the Tulipathon brings people of all faiths together to walk among tulips and raise awareness and funds for affordable housing in Ottawa.

For the first time in Ottawa, Muslim business women got a chance to come together to network, share ideas and learn about each other. This networking event was organized by the Muslim Women’s Business Network of Ottawa (MWBNO) on Saturday April 12th, 2014. The event was a huge success and was attended by a total of 28 women which consisted of beauticians, lawyers, professional consultants, etc.

The Muslim Women’s Business Network of Ottawa was established in March 2014 by two women entrepreneurs: Jessica Keats and Mahwash Fatima. They wanted to create a platform where Muslim business women could come together to network, mentor, and share their ideas and experiences.

According to the American Mosque Study of 2011, co-commissioned by the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), in a little over 30 years, Muslims have established over 2,000 mosques across the US, but only 10% of all American Muslims attend these mosques. Something isn't adding up...

Screened to sold-out audiences across North America, Unmosqued explores why more and more Muslims feel unwelcome at their mosques. On Saturday, May 10th at Carleton University, local Muslims will get a chance to watch and discuss this thought-provoking documentary.

Local Artist Nagat Bahumaid was recently invited to teach a session on Islamic calligraphy at Assunnah Muslim Association's Iqraa Saturday School in Barrhaven, by school principal Dr. Aliaa Dakroury. Muslim Link asked her to reflect on the experience for our readers.

On March 23rd, the Canada-Pakistan Association (CPA) held their annual Jeeway Pakistan (Long Live Pakistan) Mela in honour of Pakistan Day. Pakistan Day is held on March 23rdto commemorate the Lahore Resolution of 1940 by the All-India Muslim League, whose leader at the time was Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Jinnah is sometimes referred to by Pakistanis' as Quaid-i-Azam (Great Leader). The Resolution established the boundaries of the state which would become Pakistan after British India gained independence from Britain in 1947.

On Sunday, March 30th, the Thaqalayn Muslim Association (TMA) and the Ahlul Bayt Student Association (ABSA) hosted an interfaith event at the University of Ottawa.

Fostering dialogue between the Christian and Muslim communities, the event, titled Celebrating the life of Jesus, featured keynote addresses from local religion professor and Evangelist Reverend Bassma Dabbour Jaballah and Sheikh Hanif Mohamed of Atlanta, Georgia.

What made the two talks and the ensuing question and answer session even more interesting was the fact that each speaker was a convert from the other's religion.

Each year the Simon Fraser Institute ranks Ontario schools based on their performance on the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) standardized tests for reading, writing and math. Ottawa's Ahlul Bayt Islamic School came in as the second best elementary school in Ottawa and among the top 100 in the province for its Grade 3 and Grade 6 scores from 2012 to 2013. This comes as no surprise to Ahlul Bayt's principal Leila Rahal. “Every year we receive very good results but the Institute only ranks schools that have classes of over 15 students. We don't always have that,” she explained. Mrs. Rahal credits the school's success to strictly following the Canadian curriculum and having the majority of its teachers being graduates of Ontario Teachers' Colleges.

The Ottawa Shia Islamic Association (OSHIA) held its annual Milad-un-Nabi banquet on February 4 at the Ottawa Conference Centre.

The event celebrates the birth anniversary of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and strives to unite all Muslim communities. For years, the festivities have been organized with the support of the Honorable Senator Mobina Jaffer. This year, the Muslim Coordinating Council also helped coordinate in order to acquaint Muslims and people of other faiths with the noble example of the Prophet (pbuh).

Students with the University of Ottawa's Muslim Students' Association (MSA) organized this year's annual Islam Awareness Week (IAW), from March 3rd to March 7th around the theme of the sustainability of Islam.

Shahad Khalladi, a second year student studying biomedical science, developed this year's logo in collaboration with other IAW volunteers. The logo demonstrates the various intersecting gears which have helped to sustain Islam over the centuries.

Early this month, Rebiya Kadeer, Chinese Uyghur human rights activist and President of the World Uyghur Congress, visited Ottawa to testify before the Parliament Sub-Committee on Human Rights on the situation of Uyghur Muslims in China. While in the city, she also spoke at Carleton University's Institute of European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (EURUS) and met with staff at the Canadian Office of Religious Freedom and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Despite her hectic schedule, the Washington D.C. based activist made time to meet with Muslim Link as she hopes that Canadian Muslims will become more aware and more vocal about the plight of the Uyghur. In particular, she hopes to gain more support to address the situation of Huseyin Celil, a Canadian citizen of Uyghur origin who is currently in prison in China.

The editor of a successful American Muslim women's magazine was in the nation's capital as part of a country-wide tour commissioned by the U.S. Embassy last month.

Azizah Magazine Editor-in-Chief, Tayyibah Taylor, was in town to discuss media portrayals of Muslim women, and how her magazine has aimed to shatter stereotypes. Muslim Link's Miriam Katawazi was get a one-one-one interview with Taylor, who was named one of the 500 Most Influential Muslims by Jordan's The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies. Born in Trinidad to parents from Barbados and raised in Toronto, Canada, Taylor embraced Islam at the age of 19.

A local non-profit organization established to support the education of underprivileged children overseas is marking its first anniversary.

Founded by a group of youth and students, Forward Knowledge is a social enterprise intended to raise money for children's education through the sale of an original clothing line.  Tarun Rahman, a recent graduate of the University of Toronto's Master of Public Health, is a co-founder of the organization.

World Hijab Day aims to counter the often negative associations non-Muslims and some Muslims have with the hijab. Celebrated on February 1st, it was started in New York in 2013 by Bangladeshi American Nazma Khan and is now celebrated in over 50 countries worldwide.

To celebrate the birth anniversary of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him - pbuh), Ottawa's Ajyal Al Mahdi group held a unique thee-day exhibition aimed at giving people a better understanding of Islam and its final prophet.

The Birth of Light exhibition, which was open to the public from Jan. 30 ”“ Feb. 1, 2014, documented the life of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) from his birth to his death through a series of scenes illustrated by life-sized models. The exhibition also included a real-life depiction of the Prophet's (pbuh) house along with other visual displays.

George Karkour, 23, posted his documentary Quebec 60 on YouTube in January. Within a week it got over 18,000 hits.  In the documentary, Karkour interviews several hijab-wearing Muslim women about how they feel about Quebec's proposed Bill 60. The bill would forbid public service workers from wearing religious symbols, like hijabs.

From December 9 to 26 of 2013, I traveled to Mount Everest in Nepal as part of a group of young Muslims fundraising for Islamic Relief Canada. For a few years now, I have been personally raising funds for orphan sponsorship by asking family and friends. Two years ago, a friend of mine encouraged me to participate in Islamic Relief Canada's CN Tower Edge Walk Challenge. It was a great experience being 1168ft above the ground, on the roof of CN Tower's restaurant! That's when I was introduced to Islamic Relief's challenges.

“It is in the freedom of diversity for all faiths and those of no faith tradition that there is justice for all.”
- Excerpt of The Canadian Interfaith Conversation's statement against the Charter

From Winnipeg to Toronto, London to Ottawa, opposition to the Parti Quebecois's proposed values charter reached a crescendo on December 10, International Human Rights Day.

Called the “National Day affirming Human Rights and Religious Diversity”, the aim was to raise awareness about the proposed charter right across Canada.  Over three dozen local and national faith and secular organizations endorsed the initiative and took part in various related actions.

The 2013 annual Reviving the Islamic Spirit (RIS) conference, now in its twelfth year, boasted a line up of some of the most renowned Muslim scholars, intellectuals and contemporary philosophers of our time. A uniquely youth effort, RIS aims to “promote stronger communal ties within North America and beyond.”

Attended by a record breaking 25,000 attendees this year, the convention aimed to address pertinent issues relating to Muslim youth and inculcate a strong identity that is true to both faith as well as the modern realities manifesting itself within North American society.