The fashion industry can be a cold and cut-throat world, but one happy-go-lucky Muslim woman is bringing warmth to it, one clothing collection at a time.

Iman Nakhala is a fashion designer from Montreal; arguably the main hub of arts and culture in Canada. Originally from Palestine, Iman was born in Saudi Arabia in 1986 and moved with her family to Quebec in 1993.

“My parents moved us to Canada in 1993 to get a higher education just like they did. I’m bi-cultural and proud of it,” she says.

Like many young Muslims raised in the West, Iman often found herself straddling more than one identity. 

ILM Weekend, a “hackathon” for Muslim Canadian entrepreneurs, debuted in Toronto this past January.

Working over two days, with access to some of the top mentors in the fields of entrepreneurship and technology, teams of contestants developed innovative ideas and products to address problems Muslims currently face.

Muslim Link spoke with ILM Weekend's first prize winner Davoud Sarfaraz who worked with his team to develop the idea for SeerahBOX, an innovative product designed to help Muslim children learn about their faith in a fun and interactive way.

On Saturday, March 18th, Ottawa will host a unique music show at the Centrepointe Studio Theatre. While the Ottawa-based group, Expressions of Muslim Women (EMW) has been hosting its popular annual variety show for women-only audiences every fall since 2008, this will be the first time they are putting on a concert for an audience of both men and women. With veteran performers from EMW's previous shows, "Songs of Muslim Women" promises to showcase original and traditional songs from various different musical styles sharing a spiritual thread.

Captain (Padre) Imam Ryan Carter is a chaplain with the Canadian Armed Forces in Ontario. Here he reflects on the significance of Black History Month to him as a Black Muslim Canadian.

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The University of Ottawa Muslim Students Association (UOMSA) organized an interfaith session on campus on January 31st  to share concerns about the Trump travel ban on seven Muslim majority countries, including Somalia, and the shooting at a mosque in Quebec City that left six people dead.

Somali Canadian Filsan Nour, the UOMSA Events Officer, shared her thoughts on recent events. This is her edited speech.

A painting hangs on a wall in Montreal’s Museum of Fine Arts. In varying hues of blue, soft yellow and beige, it is the portrait of a young woman. Her head is tilted slightly, her eyes looking into the distance. She is tight lipped with a resolved look on her face, but most noticeable of all is her sky-blue headscarf, emblazoned with a yellow Fleur-de-Lys- the national symbol of Quebec.

This is a self-portrait of Zahraa Sbaiti, a visual artist from Montreal, Quebec. Born and raised in Canada, Zahraa is 24 years old and of Lebanese decent. She is a student at Concordia University, soon graduating with a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts.

Fatimah Jackson-Best is a healthcare researcher, advocate and academic. While studying for her PhD in public health science at the University of Toronto, she relocated from the city of her birth to the island where she traces half of her heritage: Barbados. Her PhD research project focuses on Afro-Caribbean women's maternal health; however, her interests also include the health of Muslim communities.

On the cold Saturday morning, on January 14th, a group of students from multiple University of Ottawa Muslim student associations rose early and went out to warm the hearts and fill the stomachs of people who are homeless in Ottawa. 

While it is home to many brilliant artists, Ottawa is mostly known as a working city and not necessarily for its art scene. Hoping to change the future of art in her city, and perhaps the world, one Muslim woman has a few initiatives up her sleeve.

Farhia Ahmed, co-chair of the Justice for Abdirahman Coalition, spoke on December 10th, Human Rights Day, at the IDRF Dignity Tour in Ottawa. Muslim Link has gained permission to publish her speech today, in acknowledgement that it has been six months since the death of Abdirahman Abdi on July 24th, 2016.

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