News

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.

Breaking the Silence in Mugeza is a non-profit organization aimed at supplying hearing aid equipment to children in Mugeza, Tanzania. Inspired during a volunteering stint in the summer of 2012 with CanAid Africa, Ahmed Kotb and Mohammed Rashid came upon the Mugeza Primary School while touring nearby villages. Rihan Kanso, Hiba Abdul-Fattah, and Zuzanna Kucharski joined in to create an organization focused on international development and health, and helping vulnerable populations.

The Muslim Basketball Association of Ottawa (MBA-Ottawa) ended its season with a sold-out All-Star game at the Canadian Tire Centre with Team Arafat facing off against Team Baqi.  As an added bonus, those who attended the MBA-Ottawa game were also able to attend an Ottawa SkyHawks game. During the SkyHawks game, the MBA-Ottawa's Most Valuable Player (MVP), Ali Sow,  was congratulated during half-time in front of a crowd numbering over 2,000. The MBA All-Star game was also recorded by Rogers TV to be broadcast sometime in January.

A campaign started by three Montreal Muslim women in opposition to the Quebec Charter of Values, Support Another calls on Canadians to “walk in the footsteps of a visible minority” on January 13th, by wearing an article of religious clothing for a day.

“Support Another is a campaign against the Charter of Values with the purpose of giving all Canadian citizens an equal chance to stand up together for our freedom,” explains Yusr Al-Obaidy, one of the campaign organizers. “We are encouraging everyone to wear one of the four religious symbols that the PQ wants to ban in the public sector in order to eliminate the words ”˜visible minority' for one day.” 

Canada and Canadians joined the international community in mourning the death of South Africa's first elected Black President, Nelson Mandela.

An Ottawa Muslim congregation listened intently at its weekly Friday prayers as his enduring quality of forgiveness was recalled from the pulpit.

The Canadian Parliament rose to pay tribute to Mandela.

In a rare recent gesture, reflecting Mandela's own sterling legacy of fostering unity, the two opposing parliamentary leaders, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Opposition Leader Thomas Mulcair, crossed the floor, in turn, to shake hands. Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau also praised the fallen African hero. 

Less than three weeks ago, the new School of Social Work at the University of Hargeisa in Somaliland opened its doors to 50 incoming students, including 25 young women.

During the fall of 2013, the Friends of the University of Hargeisa School of Social Work,a committee established to lay the foundation for the creation of the School of Social Work,collected 300 social work-related books to form the first library for the program.

For new immigrants, the long painful road to settlement is historically marked by trepidation, adversity, and ultimately, triumph.

The Environics Institute is a non-profit founded in 2006 by Michael Adams, author of Unlikely Utopia, as a means to listen to unheard Canadian voices. Keith Neuman, the Institute's Executive Director, describes how Adams' interest in pluralism led him to respond to the Pew Research Centre's 2006 study of Muslims in Europe.

It's 8:30am on a blustery cold Sunday morning, a time most people spend in bed with a cup of coffee. Not so for Lila Hammouda, lifelong educator and mother of four. As an Ontario certified elementary teacher at a local public school, Lila is passionate about education. She also serves as the Principal of Kanata Muslim Association's Hikmah School, a weekend school teaching language and faith.

Today is an important day as her vision of creating collaboration between the weekend school community and the larger Ottawa educational community is finally taking place. It's a day of professional development workshops for weekend educators.

The Centrepointe Studio Theatre boomed with laugher, applause, and appreciative snapping on the evening of November 9th,  as Muslim performers, including poets, comedians, and singers, entertained an audience of over 200 people at “Hope Eternal,” the 6th annual show organized by Expressions of Muslim Women (EMW).