Spoken Word poet Nasim Asgari recently successfully crowdfunded to raise enough money to publish her first book of poetry before her 18th birthday.

The Muslim Association of Canada (MAC) Youth Centre is holding Eid Prayer and an all day Eid Celebration on Thursday, September 24th from 10 am to 6pm at 1085 Grenon Avenue. 

Sudanese Canadian Spoken Word poet Roua Aljied, 19, has become well-known in Ottawa as an artist willing to tackle controversial topics such as the rights of Palestinians during last year’s Gaza War with her poem “We are Still Here” to challenging rape culture with her poem “Looking Over Her Shoulder” which was performed at Ottawa City Hall for the launch of last year’s 16 Days Against Gender Violence.

Dr. Habib Khoury, 42, is a Palestinian Canadian practicing dentistry at Centrum Dental Care in Kanata. Last year, he came up with the idea of finding an innovative way to raise funds for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA)’s Community Mental Health Program. The program supports Palestinians, particularly children, who are coping with mental health issues such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Roya Shams, 20, has received wide spread attention in Canadian media since she was supported to come to Canada from Afghanistan by Michael Cooke  and Paul Watson  of the Toronto Star after the assassination her father, a police officer and outspoken voice for women’s equality. Roya’s life was in danger because she was also a vocal advocate for women’s education. Since coming to Canada, it has not been safe for her to return to Kandahar to see her family.

Check out Muslim Canadians Who Won in the 2015 Federal Election.

Muslim Link is quite excited about the number of Muslim Canadians running in this federal election.

Camp Inspyred is back for another year, offering young Muslim women from Ottawa a unique camping experience. Registration for the Camp is currently full but fundraising is ongoing in order to ensure that campers who require financial assistance to attend the camp can be covered. Muslim Link interviewed the Camp Inspyred team about their vision, their fundraising, and their plans to further develop their initiative in the future.

So much has been written about the recent Senate Report , particularly the suggestion of “certifying imams”. The “Certifying Imams” controversy comes from Recommendation 9 of the Senate Report which states that “The federal government work with the provinces and the Muslim communities to investigate the options that are available for the training and certification of imams in Canada.”

Letters to Khadijah is the creation of Vancouverites Tahia Ahmed and Romila Barryman. They run sessions for Muslim women to connect while exploring the complexity of their identities in writing.

They recently hosted a virtual hangout with Muslim Canadian Women writers Monia Mazigh, Zarqa Nawaz, Hawa Mire, and Urooba Jamal.

They are coming to Ottawa on July 27th as part of their national tour.

Muslim Link interviewed the duo about creating safe spaces for Muslim women to explore their diverse identities and share with one another despite their differences.

The IMPACT initiative is multi-partisan, grassroots project based in Toronto, whose aim is to educate Canadian Muslim youth in the political process and its vital importance, provide training in how to get involved on-the-ground, and empower them to recruit and lead their own team of volunteers.

The deadline for their fellowship for Canadian Muslim youth between the ages of 16 to 25 who wish to be involved during the Federal Election is Wednesday, July 22nd. You can apply online here.

Muslim Link interviewed the people behind IMPACT to find out more about the fellowship and what they hope to achieve.