On Friday, May 10th, members of the Carleton University  Afghan Students' Association (ASA) organized a Mother's Day celebration to recognize the efforts of Afghan Canadian female educators who are actively involved within Ottawa's schools, from language school teachers to daycare workers. They also raised over $1000 in proceeds for Mirman Baheer, an Afghan organization that supports women writers and poets.

“Does anyone know why the eagle is so important in Aboriginal culture?” Jason Mullins, dressed in full Cherokee regalia, asked a riveted audience of mostly Muslim community members at Knox Presbyterian Church on April 13.

Mullins, an American-born First Nations cultural interpreter who works with the Ottawa organization Aboriginal Experiences, was one of many Aboriginal artists to offer his time and talent to support the Islam Care Centre's fundraising efforts.

It was an evening of firsts as the Ottawa Main Mosque welcomed US Ambassador David Jacobson on his first official visit on April 8.

Almost 100 people attended the event titled “Strengthening Bridges & Working Together for a Better Future”.  Security was discreet and the question period was uncensored which was unusual for a high-profile guest like the ambassador. But a unique set of circumstances had created the space for this gathering.  As Ambassador Jacobson explained at the beginning of his speech:

As the new coordinator of the Muslim Link, one of the tasks I assigned myself was figuring out the history of the paper that has become an important institution in Ottawa's Muslim community.

Muslim Link was founded in 2002 by Ali Bokhari and his wife Tahira Ismail.  Ali was inspired to create the paper after seeing the success of The Muslim Link in the US. Founded in 1998, the American paper connects Muslims across the Virginia, Maryland, and Metropolitan Washington D.C area.

Ali's other motivation came from the fallout of 9/11 when stereotypes and misinformation about Muslims in Canada became rampant and it was clear that a forum was needed for Muslim Canadians to connect, share information, discuss their common concerns, and see their lives reflected in a positive light.

“Strengthening Relationships with the Muslim Community” is a series of sessions organized by several Muslim organizations in partnership with the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) and the Community Police Action Committee (COMPAC).

The first session took place on Thursday, January 24th 2013 at Masjid Assunnah. Chief of Police Charles Bordeleau summed up the purpose of the series as follows: “It's about us as police officers and members of the police service learning more about the Muslim community but it's also about the Muslim community knowing who we are as police officers and what we do, and what the police service is capable of doing to help you.”

It was a defining moment for the growing Muslim community as members of disparate organisations and associations came together to celebrate the achievements of their own.

The Jan. 19 event, hosted by the Muslim Coordinatin

g Council (MCC) and the Ottawa Muslim Association (OMA), honoured 20 Ottawa Muslim recipients of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Award.

“This is the first time in Ottawa that 42 Muslim organizations joined hands in a community-wide celebration of our contributions to Canada,” the MCC said in a statement issued after the event.

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him said “An intelligent person is one who is constantly thinking about and preparing for death.“ (Tirmidhi)

Ottawa Muslims now have a cemetery to call their own. The Ottawa Muslim Cemetery officially opened on Jan. 4 2013.

The project is the result of almost two decades of effort on the part of a small but determined group of Ottawa Muslims who saw the need back in 1994 for a cemetery for Muslims run by Muslims.

The Ottawa Police is inviting all Muslim residents to attend a community information session at Masjid Dar Assunnah on Jan. 24, 2013.  The event, organised in partnership with several Ottawa Muslim organizations, is aimed at strengthening relations between the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) and local Muslims.

Algonquin College has opened a spiritual centre for its students in the brand new Robert C. Gillett Student Commons Building. The centre has a large prayer room, two rooms for ablutions, and three offices for each of the major faiths represented at the school: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

The centre officially opened on Nov. 1, 2012 with an interfaith prayer service and lunch which brought together students, school administration, and religious leaders from outside the campus, to celebrate.

It's Nov. 17, and as Somali-Canadian student Sharmake Abdulkarim delivers the khutbah (sermon) at the jummah (Friday) prayer, he encourages his fellow Muslim students not to gossip or backbite, and to help each other through the stressful time of exams and midterms.

“I have to admit, I was nervous,” Mr. Sharmake says, but he welcomes the encouragement he receives from Adel ElMaghrabi, the centre's full-time volunteer Imam, to write khutbahs that will be relevant to the lives of his fellow students.

“When the students come to jummah, they need to hear something that will help them in their daily lives,” Imam ElMaghrabi says.

Despite a day of truly terrible weather, well over 800 people turned up for the International Food Festival on Oct. 14. They came out to the St. Elias Banquet Hall to enjoy food and performances representing Ottawa's multicultural mosaic and to show their support for the people of Yemen.

The festival, a joint initiative of local youth group Gentler and Softer Hearts and the charity Human Concern International (HCI), raised awareness about the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.