Stories

Shelina Merani has many accomplishments to speak of.

She once spearheaded an award-winning photography project that was praised for giving a human face to public service workers.  

She is a founder of Muslim Presence, a network which she says aims to promote universal values and active citizenship.

And lately, she's been performing standup comedy in Ottawa and Quebec.

As rare as it is to find a practicing Muslimah who is also an entrepreneur, it is rarer still to find a Muslim man who supports his wife in starting and running a home based business.

Sana Khan began shadowing experienced henna artists at age 21. Within a few years, she had co-founded a business. Now, at 24, she's launched her solo career and is hoping to profit from increasing demand.

Traditionally henna tattoos are worn by women from South Asian, Arab, and African backgrounds for celebrations such as Eid (Islamic festivals). Elaborate henna ceremonies often form part of wedding celebrations as well.

On Friday, Febraury 28th, a memorial service took place at Ridgemont High School to remember and celebrate the life of Mohamoud Hersi Abdulle. The service was attended by Ottawa Chief of Police Charles Bordeleau, who also spoke, along with Mr. Abdulle's family, friends, and colleagues. He was killed in a terrorist attack on the presidential palace in Mogadishu, Somalia, on Friday, February 21, just a few days before he was about to return to Ottawa. He is survived by a wife and six children. Muslim Link invited Somali community members who worked closely with Mr. Abdulle to reflect on the impact of his life and work in Ottawa.

Ayan Yusuf is coping with paranoid schizophrenia and depression and she wants you to know all about it. The 26 year-old spoke at the 3rdAnnual Awakening: Reviving the Spirit of Somali Youth event in January about her struggle and why it is important for the community to challenge the stigma faced by those living with mental illness. She hopes that by sharing her story, other Muslims living with mental illness will feel less alone in their struggle.

In 2012 alone, more than 6.6 million children globally under the age of 5 died from preventable diseases such as pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria, HIV, and measles. 1.7 million children die annually because of Severe Acute Malnutrition and 3.6 million die because of Moderate Acute Malnutrition. To put it simply, they die because they don't have access to food. Globally, 67 million children do not have access to basic education. That means they will never graduate from grade 8 and go on to high school.

“I had been calling myself Muslim since 1968 because it was cool. You know, Malcolm X, Black awareness in the United States..”

Michelle Walrond's tale about being Muslim in a different era and place is part of this great-grandmother's remarkable life story.

It's a story that Walrond, aka Um Nur, was happy to share with library borrowers at the CBC's third annual Human Library, in partnership with the Ottawa Public Library on January 25, 2014.

Grade 12 student Samiyah Khan first came to Muslim Link's attention when she made second place in our 2013 Ramadan Photo Contest. She was invited to work with the paper, creating conceptual photos for articles in our Heart & Soul Section. She recently had the opportunity to showcase her work in public at the 2013 Expressions of Muslim Women event. Muslim Link had a chance to interview Samiyah about her journey as a conceptual photographer.

When news of Nelson Mandela passing spread, the world was shaken. From the people of South Africa who felt the direct impact of his actions, to those who benefited from his AIDS campaign; everyone was saddened.

For me, Mandela's death really hit home. As a Palestinian, I looked up to Mandela. I remember one night, years ago, doing a google search to find out who he was. I quickly learned that he was an anti-apartheid advocate and a hero to the South Africans. I soon stumbled on one of his quotes that I would never forget: “We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.” 

As World Hijab Day is wrapping up, many of us who are advocates of religious freedom in Canada are grappling with outrage at how the tragic death of Naima Rharouity has been covered in some media.

Certainly, the hijab has come under increased scrutiny, thanks to the highly controversial values charter, proposed by the PQ government. The charter, which aims to enforce a rigid form of secularism within the province, has already been blamed for mounting abuse and harassment of Muslim women. Whether or not this law is passed, the coverage and subsequent reactions to Naima Rharouity's death further indicate that the floodgates of hatred towards Muslim women have already been opened. Every Muslim woman in the province, and possibly beyond, will be affected negatively by the racist and patriarchal discourses playing out during hearings on the charter at Quebec's national assembly.

As Muslims, we are obliged to abide by the laws of the land and the country that we live in. Because there seems to be general misconceptions that the legalities of running a home based business (HBB) are complicated and unnecessary, this article will address some of those misconceptions and show how simple the legalities really are.

In last month's issue, Muslim Link interviewed Shahzad Khan, co-founder of Gnowit, who had recently been made a 2013 Rising Star by Invest Ottawa. Mohammad Al-Azzouni is also a co-founder of Gnowit and works as the company's VP of Business Development & Marketing. Both men met in 2010 at the Legacy Conference which Al-Azzouni founded while studying Economics and Marketing at the University of Ottawa.

In the past decade or so, a new generation of entrepreneurs has come into being: the Mompreneurs. Women business owners who balance being mothers and entrepreneurs are on the rise. Commerce and women is not a new idea for Muslims. Khadija (RA), the first woman to accept Islam, was a successful business woman in her own right.

The first in this series of columns will begin by looking at how you start your home-based business.

Shahzad Khan was recently named one of 2013's Rising Stars by Invest Ottawa, an organization that aims to support entrepreneurs and local start-ups. Gnowit Inc., an online brand-monitoring company which Shahzad co-founded with Mohammad Al Azzouni, launched this year, gaining international clients and government contracts. Muslim Link met with the Pakistan-born entrepreneur to discuss what it takes to survive as an entrepreneur.

When I tell my friends that I volunteer with the Ottawa Police Service they think it's awesome. Although many times I receive questions like, “Oh, you want to be a police officer?” or a “Do you get to use a gun?”

Here is what I actually do: I volunteer with the Ottawa Police Service's Youth Advisory Committee (YAC).  YAC hopes to become the liaison between the youth and the police, in the hope that this relationship will make Ottawa a safer place. YAC works to address the issues that youth are facing and to meet their needs. 

Farhia Ahmed is a mother of four who runs her own career consulting business. But on and off since 2005, she has been the team lead for Reviving the Islamic Spirit's Media Team. Muslim Link had a chance to interview Farhia about her journey with RIS and the role the Media Team plays in trying to improve the image of Muslims in mainstream media.

I am a product of youth programs. Since high school, I've been attracted to being involved in anything that would give me an opportunity to network, learn, and grow. It is where I spent many hours during lunch and many more after school. Now I have the privilege of working with a youth program that mirrors the experiences I had in high school.

Since the winter of 2012, I have worked for Youth Futures: a 7-month long bilingual program that provides advanced leadership training, volunteer opportunities, a variety of employment positions, and a post-secondary experience. The goal of the program is to provide skills, information, and support for success in post-secondary education and the work place for high school students from low-income families and communities.

We at Muslim Link strive to make it a non-partisan publication that respects that Ottawa's Muslims support a variety of political parties. However, when we were invited to spend a day with Yasir Naqvi, the Ontario Minister of Labour with the Liberal Party, we jumped on the opportunity to see just what a politician does with his or her time. Our goal is to demystify the work of politicians and encourage citizens to take more of an interest in politicians' work throughout their time in office, not just during elections. This is important in order to keep politicians accountable to their constituents. Along with Muslim Link reporters, 16 year-old Adilah Makrup, a Lisgar High School student and photographer living in Yasir's riding, was invited to join Muslim Link on November 15th for the chance to connect with the man who represents her and her family provincially. We hope that this will become a regular series as more politicians invite us to spend the day with them.

On November 4th, Mohamed Islam, 31, was awarded with Crime Prevention Ottawa's 2013 Youth Worker Award in a ceremony at City Hall. Crime Prevention Ottawa (CPO) is an organization which aims to reduce crime and enhance community safety through collaborative evidence-based crime prevention strategies. Mohamed Islam is a Youth Worker with the Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa and is the coordinator of the Somali Youth Support Project, a program run out of the Pinecrest-Queensway Community Health Centre.

“It takes a village to raise a child.” – Old African Proverb

Had a rough time last night because your baby wasn’t sleeping? No problem! Just give him to your well rested mother in the morning while you catch up. Not able to eat because your baby is being too clingy? No problem! Toss him over to your niece while you eat breakfast. Can’t go take a shower in peace because your baby won’t stop crying? No problem! Call your brother over to entertain him for a few minutes.

How amazing would that be, right?