News

The sun shone down on my family and me as we entered Brewer Park June 30, joining Ottawa Muslims and members of the greater community as they ate, shopped, and played at the Sadaqah Food Bank Food Festival, an innovative fundraising event.

People streamed in from the park's entrance and parking lot off Bronson Avenue, across from Carleton University. Large bouncy rides seen from the street invited children to come in and play while adults were lured in by the long line of tents offering food for sale.

Canada reluctantly bade farewell to a loving daughter with sorrow, admiration, respect and warmth.

In a poignant memorial ceremony on June 11, the country and the Muslim community said good-bye to Lieutenant-Commander Wafa Dabbagh after she succumbed to her long battle with cancer.

Wafa made history when she joined the Canadian armed forces in 1996 wearing the hijab. Officers were baffled by why a practicing Muslim woman wanted to join, and wondered how her recruitment would work out. She won that battle easily -- everyone she met loved her friendliness. They not only accepted her, they embraced her.

The profile of Muslim women in Canada received a boost with the nomination of one of their own for the Order of Canada, the country's highest award.

Alia Hogben, the Executive Director of the Canadian Council for Muslim Women is among 70 Canadians who have been selected for the prize this year.

The Order of Canada, created in 1967, recognizes brilliant accomplishments that honour Canada. This will be the second time in history that a Muslim woman has received the award.

The late Lila Fahlman of Edmonton, who founded the CCMW in 1982 was the first female Muslim winner of the award.

Delicate hand-embroidered scarves, mats, and a variety of other useful household items sewn by women in Gaza will be on sale soon in Ottawa.

The items were created under one of the International Relief Fund for the Afflicted and Needy (IRFAN) -Canada's assistance projects in Palestine. Every month, Palestinian women living in conditions of poverty and hardship, are paid a small amount of money for the elegant embroidered items they were trained to create.

The project is an attempt to offer women needed skills to help them sustain households where men are missing, unemployed or disabled.

Canada has traditionally supported the United Nations as the best vehicle, however imperfect, for promoting world peace, justice, human rights and prosperity. The UN, for its part, ranks Canada as among the finest countries -- currently the sixth.  But now the two are arguing over poverty and hunger in Canada.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food recently visited Canada, the first developed country on his tour of inspection. His 11-day investigation into food security in this country produced a scathing report that expressed “extremely severe” concerns about the ability of aboriginal people and families on social assistance to afford the food they need to stay healthy.

A United Nations report says Canada owes an apology and compensation to Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad El Maati and Muayyed Nureddin.

The report by the UN Committee Against Torture accuses the federal government of being “complicit” in human rights violations committed against the three Arab-Canadian men who were held and tortured in Egypt and Syria after 9-11.

"The committee is seriously concerned at the apparent reluctance on (the) part of the (government) to protect rights of all Canadians detained in other countries," the report reads.

As it is the custom every year in early July, Abraar School will be welcoming the Muslim Association of Canada's Summer Camp and its young guests. This year, MAC Summer Camp staff are already gearing up for what they hope will be the best camp to date, full of fun activities, lasting memories, and unique and special friendships.

MAC strives to build a lasting bond among Muslim children who will in turn build a stronger community in the future. The association believes that the primary means of achieving its vision is by investing in Muslims and developing Muslim individuals who are spiritually connected, strongly grounded in their own faith, and motivated and enthusiastic through interactive educational activities.

Looking around the Atrium at Ben Franklin Place on Apr. 10, Mashooda Lubna Syed was moved at seeing so many young women being honoured for showing leadership in their communities.

“It is wonderful to be able to connect with such amazing young women and to hear their inspiring stories! It really does encourage one to push forward and take out that extra bit of time to do a community service,” she said.

For the fourth year in a row, a group of Muslim women and children participated in the annual walk for Multiple Sclerosis. Blossoms IV raised over $1600 for the MS Society. The money goes towards research and support to those living with the illness.

Critics are condemning the federal government's decision to shut down the independent office that served as the watchdog for Canada's spies.

A single line in a massive budget implementation bill tabled on Apr. 27 signalled the end of the Office of the Inspector General of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. The office will be replaced by the spy agency's civilian oversight body, the Security Intelligence Review Committee which has a more distant relationship with CSIS.

After taking the Montreal Muslim community by storm, women's clothing store Boutique N-Ti opened its first Ontario location in Mississauga early this month.

“We've been discussing the opening of a store for more than two years,” says Fatma Nurmohamed, CEO of the Toronto branch. “We've been planning, researching, marketing and selling through our mobile store until we were finally able to find the perfect location.”

What do you get when you combine Islam, Hinduism, and Christianity? How about Yoga for Muslims at a church!

Since February of this year, a group of Muslim women have been attending a specially designed -- and halal (Islamically permissible) -- version of Yoga classes intended to promote basic physical health and release stress inside the hall of a local church.

Afreen Shaikh, a mother of three, and an active community member organizes the weekly classes and spoke with The Muslim Link.

The Toronto-based charity World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) was revoked of its charitable status this February.

The Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) said in the summary of its decision to revoke that the Assembly failed to keep proper books and a distinct charitable purpose. The Agency noted that the Muslim youth group “was established to support the goals and operations of its parent organization located in Saudi Arabia.”

The CRA came to its final conclusions after conducting an audit on the Assembly. The audit said that the Assembly's parent organization in Saudi Arabia had alleged ties to terrorist groups. Details of the allegations were not disclosed.

The Conservatives passed the omnibus crime bill on Mar. 12 as they promised they would within the first 100 days of sitting Parliament. Bill C-10 continues to be a polarizing piece of legislation, and key provinces continue to voice their opposition.

The Safe Streets and Communities Act passed the House by a vote of 154 to 129, and is supposed to be the first of several Tory anti-crime initiatives. The federal government has estimated that implementing this Act will cost the country around $1 billion at least.

Sarwat Humayun, chair of the Muslim Coordinating Council of the National Capital Region's email committee, has been honoured for her contributions to the community.

On Mar. 24, she was among 29 women and girls in Ottawa who received the Leading Women/Leading Girls, Building Communities Award from member of the provincial assembly Yasir Naqvi, who presented the award on behalf of Laurel Broten, Ontario's Minister Responsible for Women's Issues.

In Ottawa, spring is synonymous with renewal, rebirth and of course the awakening of thousands of colourful tulip bulbs from a long sleep during the freezing nights of fall and the long bitter and frigid days of winter.

In 1997, a diverse group of Ottawans led by Dr. Farook Tareen decided to celebrate the arrival of spring by doing something really special. Through the Ottawa Muslim Association, Dr. Tareen launched the Tulipathon, an annual charity walk that brings together people of every faith in an effort to raise awareness about the urgent need for affordable housing in our city.

Nestled between the fruit markets and video stores on a busy street in St-Laurent, many may pass by the modest bureau of the Amal Center for Women without a second glance. An inconspicuous sign at the front door leads the way up a flight of stairs to the center's office, where Muslim women from different parts of the city come together to bring hope to those that need it most.

Meagan Sheridan scanned the fifteen children's faces in front of her. As each child aged 7 to 14 years old shared which superpower they would pick if they could have any, she listened carefully, and watched to see which kids looked unsure and which ones spoke with ease.

The children were gathered on the first day of March Break for an informal workshop at the Higher Learning Institute in Bell's Corners.

The one-day event organized by local parent Lula Adam through the Tarbiyah Learning homeschooling network, included a mix of homeschooled and public-schooled kids from across the city.

A full house stood for ”˜Asr (mid-afternoon prayer) Saturday, Mar. 31,  after 17 long years of waiting, in the finished lower level of the Assunah Muslim Association (AMA) Mosque. At first glance the mosque hides in the corner behind the trees which line Sawmill Creek, but when you enter the parking lot driveway, the design and height of the mosque dominates the view. A shining sun graced the afternoon as worshippers from all areas of the city arrived, filling the large tiled hall with Muslim men, women and children anxious to be the first to pray in the long-awaited building.

Over 100 men and women joined a yoga class at Ottawa's Richellieu Vanier Community Centre, held simultaneously with similarly massive classes taking place in 20 other cities across Canada on Mar. 4.

The 1-hour yoga class, lead by yoga instructor Jessica Keats of YogaFit was part of the Power of Movement national initiative to raise funds for arthritis and autoimmune conditions research.

The Power of Movement initiative started in 2005, and has raised over $1 million to date.