“Say: travel through the land and observe how He began creation.” [29:20]

Sailing down the Nile River on my way to work in Aswan City, I stopped to reflect before the breathtaking scene unfolding before me: the empowering sun overbearing above, an uncompromising terrain spanning rugged mountains and winding sand dunes with quaint homes dotting in between. These banks were once home to the mighty Pharaohs and Kings of antiquity. I spent a moment to take in the majesty of one of the most spectacular cities I’ve ever visited…for the last time.

This month we at Muslim Link noticed this photo that was being shared widely thorough various social media. We decided to track down its origin and discovered that it was the creation of a 17 year old high school student, aspiring photographer, and jewelry designer from Alexandria, Egypt named Hadeia Nour Adel. Here is Muslim Link's interview with her.

Egyptian singer Hamza Namira, who is considered to be the unofficial Artist of the Egyptian Revolution during which he was a fixture in Tahrir Square, performed in Ottawa on Sunday, October 27th to a packed audience. Namira was in Ottawa as part of his first-ever Canadian tour, which is a fundraiser for Islamic Relief Canada's projects in Egypt. PeaceMidan, a non-profit organization which aims to build on the momentum of the Arab Spring in order to foster civic engagement and social entrepreneurship in Arab countries, organized Namira's visit. “Hamza Namira is the voice of hope, not only in Egypt but in the Middle East region,” explained Mohamed Abouelsaoud, co-founder and vice-president of PeaceMidan.

The news out of Egypt is coming fast and furious. One of the latest reports came from Human Rights Watch (HRW), which condemned what it sees as the excessive use of force by Egyptian security forces in the dispersal of pro-Morsy protesters.

“The police's persistent record of excessive use of force, leading to dozens of deaths this month, and the density of the sit-ins mean that hundreds of lives could be lost if the sit-in is forcibly dispersed,” according to HRW's Middle East Director Nadim Houry, “To avoid another bloodbath, Egypt's civilian rulers need to ensure the ongoing right of protesters to assemble peacefully, and seek alternatives to a forcible dispersal of the crowds,” he said.

University students and recent graduates of Egyptian heritage successfully teamed up with local community organizations and individuals last month to raise over sixty thousand dollars for micro financing and education projects in Egypt.

Heba Eid, one of the July 28 fundraising dinner's energetic organizers, wrote in an email interview that the team of young people was originally just hoping to be able to raise forty thousand dollars to kick start an ambitious program that would help finance 25 projects in a Cairo slum.