Stories

Rehab El Buri, a former ABC News staffer who helped shape the network's coverage of the Middle East, died on March 6th at the age of 25 following a courageous battle with cancer.

According to a tribute by the ABC News Investigative Team, Rehab “was committed to reporting on the plight of those who could not speak out on their own. Her work was defined by giving a voice to the voiceless, steadfastly working behind the scenes to tell their stories.”

"I have some good news and some bad news...The bad news is that I relapsed while at work... I felt terrible Zeyad, I just stood there in the bathroom not even able to look myself in the mirror. "

"I felt so angry with myself and decided that this was enough... Whatever you want to call it, the good news is that I decided I would not let Shaytan (the devil) win this time and miss dhuhr (midday) and asr (afternoon) prayers like I usually do when I relapse."

In April 2013, when the two “VIA rail terror plot” suspects were charged with terrorism offences, my reaction was a mixture of surprise and relief. Surprised and relieved because they were charged under the Criminal Code of Canada instead of being issued a security certificate.

These two men would, at least theoretically, get all of the fundamental safeguards that are integral to the Canadian criminal justice system. They would be presumed innocent, and the allegations against them would be tested in a fair trial. And most importantly, at some point, they would either receive a guilty verdict and be sentenced, or not guilty verdict and be free. None of these safeguards exist for persons named in a security certificate.

I was in Washington DC when the horrific images from the Westgate Mall attack in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi flashed across my TV screen. Lifeless bodies sprawled on blood-spattered floors in the mall and on the parking lot tarmac. People tightly clutching children, some were running for their lives while others emerged from the mall raising their hands high up in the air -- fear written across their faces. Unbelievable scenes, truly.  

I’m sure I wasn’t the only Kenyan wondering “Why us…again?” The city where I was born had once again been hit hard by terrorists, but this attack was unlike any we had ever seen before.

The United Nations declared June 20thWorld Refugee Day in 2000. The focus of this year’s World Refugee Day is the impact of war on families. Muslim Link asked Ottawa resident Sina N. to share her thoughts on this day.

Sina N.: My family and I came to Canada in 1990. We were originally from Afghanistan but had flown to Canada from India. On this day I reflect on a question that I constantly come across. That question is: “Why come to this country and still want to be rooted in your culture? You come to Canada, therefore you should be so happy.”

The horrific events in Boston and the arrests of two men in Canada on terrorism charges sent shock waves of emotion through Muslim communities across North America. The violent killing and maiming of innocents so close to home brought feelings of disbelief, shock, and overwhelming sadness.

For many Muslims, a sickening feeling of dread also grew in the backdrop of all these emotions. As the media machines hurried to churn out headlines, analysis, and reports with the words 'Muslim' and 'terror' splashed across homepages and front pages, you could almost feel the entire Muslim community collectively bracing for a public backlash.

Growing up, I never really knew what being an “entrepreneur” or “an innovator” meant. My mother has been a self-employed business woman all her life.  And as in many immigrant communities, she was pushed into it by necessity. She struggled, made her own money, sustained a profitable business, and still does.

Black History Month is celebrated annually in February in the United States and Canada. Its origins go back as far as 1926 with the establishment of “Negro History Week” in the United States during the second week of February. This week was chosen because both President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) and former slave-turned-human rights activist Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) were born during this week.

The first celebration of Black History Month occurred in 1970 at Kent State University and in 1976, under the presidency of Republican Gerald Ford, the Unites States government officially recognized February as Black History Month. In Canada, in 1995, Black Liberal MP Jean Augustine, who was the first Black woman to become a member of a federal cabinet, brought a motion forward to the House of Commons for the month’s recognition, and in 2008, Black Conservative Senator Donald Oliver, who was the first Black man appointed to the Senate, moved for the Senate to do the same; both motions were unanimously approved.

In honour of Black History Month, the Muslim Link’s Chelby Marie Daigle asked local Muslims -- both those who are Black and those who are not -- what Black History Month means to them.

The recent Supreme Court of Canada judgment in the NS case – deciding whether a woman who brought charges of childhood sexual abuse against male relatives could wear her niqab while providing testimony – sparked much discussion that reflected the ongoing tension of a Canadian society where misperceptions and mistrust of anything associated with Islam remain a constant.

Part of those tensions reflect an Islamophobic lens that, as University Of Ottawa professor Natasha Bakht points out, positions the niqab as a symbol that is “experienced by non-wearers as a form of confrontation or criticism against national ways of living and dressing.”

My reaction to the Quebec 2012 election results was, in a nutshell, quite satisfied, especially given what the polls and the media, including English outlets, were crowing.

Despite a tired Parti Liberal du Quebec government (whose vote was split with the Coalition Avenir Quebec), the defection of some disenchanted PLQ supporters to the Parti Quebecois, and the polarizing effect of the federal Tories whose policies are widely unpopular in Quebec, the final result was a slim minority mandate to the PQ.  Just four seats and less than one per cent of the popular vote (31.94 percent vs. 31.2 per cent) separated them from the Liberals.

UmmahHub and Anfiq are two new Ottawa-based crowd-funding platforms aimed at providing more sophisticated fundraising options for Muslim communities in order to address one of the most common problems facing the community: fundraising fatigue.

We have all at some point used something that wasn't ours, perhaps the pen from a colleague's desk, or a sibling's bike. This happens either with or without the rightful owner's permission. And we all know how the drama unfolds when it's the second case.

The general community as a whole, and quite frankly the Muslim community in particular, suffer from a similar type of “borrowing” malady. I'm talking of course about the unauthorized use of media to pass off as our own.

Ramadan is a month where we strive to get closer to Allah by sacrificing that which is normally permissible for us. The most physically strenuous sacrifice is of food and drink during daylight hours, which in Ottawa this year will be for roughly 17 hours daily. But despite the common perception that exercise and physical exertion are to be avoided during Ramadan, one need not put away the weights and hide the running shoes.

Hamza Abdullah of the Arizona Cardinals, for example, has throughout his career managed to fast during Ramadan while playing professional football. Mr. Abdullah believes the key is preparation.

“I HATED English, which makes the whole poetry thing a surprise even for myself,” shared Ali Awada about his unlikely success as a rising star in Ottawa's Spoken Word scene. Ali, 23, grew up in Detroit, the son of Lebanese parents who decided to move to Canada when he was 10.  Ali broke onto the scene at Capital Slam in December 2012. He placed second in his first ever competition, and then won first place the next week. Ali took the stage name ”˜Ali Islam' and “the rest is history.” He has performed at Muslim community events from high school Eid Dinners to the Muslim Association of Canada (MAC) Eid Festival, and recently opened for YouTube sensation FouseyTube in Montreal during his Canadian tour. You will find Ali performing solo or in the hip hop group House of Halaal with Jae “Deen” Asare.

A recent conversation with Dr. Aliaa Dakroury left my neurons firing in all directions, trying to forge the synaptic connections that would allow my brain to process the contributions of this exuberant dynamo of a woman.

It was twilight, when we long to draw the curtains and lull ourselves into an evening peace but two minutes into the conversation my heart was pumping with the same adrenalin that pulsed through her veins as she proclaimed the need for Muslim women in Canada to be visible and audible ambassadors of their faith.

Dr. Dakroury cannot be said to be tentative in her opinions. To her credit, she has passionately held convictions on the myriad roles that Muslim women should play in North America, or anywhere, for that matter.

You may not know her name but you have probably seen her.

In 2011, Rasha Al-Katta's smiling face was visible across the city as part of the United Way's campaign to raise awareness about the organization. Volunteers like Ms. Al-Katta were asked to pose for the posters instead of models.

“I thought it would be fun. I didn't even know that it would be splattered everywhere. I thought it would just be in the newspaper but then people started texting me ”˜Rasha we saw your poster in Rideau or at Place D'Orleans!'. It was pretty exciting,” Ms. Al-Katta shared.

Being asked to cover the Ottawa-South provincial by-election for Muslim Link was a wakeup call and reality check for me as a Lebanese Muslim Canadian. Because I live in the riding, I had to think about how provincial politics affect my life and the lives of my friends and family.

But what I often hear when the topic comes up is: “I hate politics!” or “ Please let's not talk about politics”.

Automatically, the door is shut upon this topic and the conversation shifts to what seems more important ”“ the latest goings on Facebook.

For the second year in a row, a Muslim woman has been awarded a special scholarship from the Ottawa Police Service in order to pursue a career in policing.

Urge Ibrahim was presented with the Thomas G. Flanagan S.C. Scholarship by Chief Charles Bordeleau at the Ottawa Police Service's annual Community/Police Awards on June 18.

When Dr. Farook Tareen first came to Ottawa over forty years ago, the Muslim community was small. He joined the Ottawa Muslim Association and maintained the relationship until his death on Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012. He worked tirelessly to both develop and nurture the Muslim community and to build bridges with the broader community of Ottawa.  The following is compiled with excerpts from emails sent to Dr. Tareen's family by those who knew and loved him.

Wire service ”“  n. A news-gathering organization that distributes syndicated copy electronically, as by teletype or the Internet, usually to subscribers.

Also known as a wire agency.

About a decade ago, Hadeel Al-Shalchi, 32, was writing articles about Ottawa's Muslim community in these very pages. She also hosted a weekly show on Carleton University's student radio station, CKCU, and was a regular guest on CBC Radio, commenting on the latest developments in her homeland.

Obviously, journalism was in her blood, though at the time she was pursuing an engineering degree because her father thought it was a more reliable choice.

Perhaps. But thankfully Ms. Al-Shalchi decided to follow her dreams. After obtaining a Master in Journalism from Carleton University, the then 25-year-old Ms. Al-Shalchi made her way to the Middle East, where her family is originally from, to break into journalism on familiar soil. That decision would change her life and bring her to the front lines of the Arab Spring, including the latest violent uprising in Syria.

Ms. Al-Shalchi, who is now covering the Middle East for the wire agency Reuters, was in Ottawa recently and shared her experiences with a packed room of journalism students, family, friends and members of the wider public. Here are some of her reflections on covering the historic Arab Spring uprisings: