News

On December 15th 2017, friends and supporters held a vigil at Dundas Square to mark the one year anniversary of Soleiman Faqiri’s death. This vigil was organized to honour and commemorate Soleiman and call for justice, transparency, accountability and most of all reform in Ontario’s correctional services.

Muslim Canadian journalist Muhammad Lila from Toronto crowdfunded for a gift for Jake Taylor, an ordinary Canadian who intervened during the violent Islamophobia-motivated assault of a young Muslim woman, Noor Fadel, on the Skytrain in Vancouver in November.

As Noor Fadel stated on her Instagram, "Out of all the passengers he alone stepped in and protected me. He got off the train and comforted me until police paramedics came by. He means the world to me and more than anything I’m honoured to call him a friend."

Members of Edmonton's Al Rashid Youth Club, based in North America's oldest mosque, raised $10,000 for the Bissell Centre's annual New Year's Day Dinner.

“The feeling of unity and brotherhood was undeniable,” said Amani Ali, president of the Ahlul Bayt Student Association (ABSA).

Over the weekend students from the University of Ottawa, Carleton University and Algonquin College, joined together to volunteer at the “In from the cold” event held at Parkdale United Church. The event is held every Saturday through the winter months, to not only feed the hungry and the homeless but also in hopes of “bringing a smile to their face” and “making them feel less alone” according to Gary Crocker, church coordinator.

Human Concern International (HCI) is excited to be part of the Canadian Government's matching program to provide relief to the Rohingya.

And today for Giving Tuesday HCI is proud to partner with Halal Socks. 

Please purchase socks for all your family and friends from www.halalsocks.com today and HCI will receive donations for Rohingya Refugees. 

Rohingya Canadian youth, many of whom came as refugees to Canada, have been taking the lead in pushing for justice for their people in Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Rallies, fundraisers, and awareness raising events have been organized across Canada, often with young members of Canada's Rohingya community participating as speakers.

Rohingya youth, some members of the team originally involved in creating the play I Am Rohingya, co-founded the Canadian Rohingya Development Initiative, an organization which has been meeting with goverment officials in Canada and abroad to raising awareness about the plight of the Rohingya.

On November 5, 2017, Padre Ryan Carter, a chaplain with the Royal Military College (RMC), organized a pre-Remembrance Day service at the RMC in Kingston, honouring the first Muslim to die serving in the Canadian Armed Forces in World War 1.

Silk Road Institute in partnership with the Michaëlle Jean Foundation presents "Combating Hate, Advancing Inclusion: A National Forum", Saturday November 18 from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm in Ottawa at allsaints 10 Blackburn Avenue.

Be part of this urgent conversation on leveraging the power of youth, arts, and digital technology to combat hate in Canada while advancing the full inclusion of diverse Muslim communities.

Tickets: Free, including artistic workshops, light breakfast, lunch, and snacks. 

Register to attend online HERE

November 15, 2017

On December 4th 2016 Soleiman Faqiri was temporarily housed at the Central East Correctional Centre (CECC) in Lindsay Ontario while awaiting a bed at the Ontario Shores Centres for mental health. Eleven days following that, on December 15 2016, Soleiman was killed by guards after they had applied force on him.  The Corners report showed that Soleiman has sustained 50 injuries on his body; a significant number of which were due to blunt impact trauma. 

The Canadian Association of Muslim Women in Law (CAMWL) is dismayed at the recent passage of Bill 62: “An Act Respecting Religious Neutrality”, by the Liberal Government of Quebec. The law discriminatorily targets Muslim women who wear face veils. It prohibits public servants (including health care professionals, teachers and daycare employees) who wear the niqab from providing services to the public, and prevents veiled Muslim women from receiving provincial and municipal public services (including riding the bus, visiting the library and seeing a doctor).

CAMWL condemns this legislation as both discriminatory and unconstitutional for the following reasons:

The following is a statement from the Justice for Soli coalition after learning that the Kawartha Lakes Police Service will not be pressing charges against those responsible for the death of Soleiman Faqiri.

Readers should know that this is the second time that a Muslim coping with schizophrenia has died after spending time in the Lindsay Detention Centre. The first was Somali refugee Abdurahman Ibrahim Hassan, who died in a Peterborough Hospital. Hassan was under indefinite immigrantion detention at Lindsay. Fellow immigration detention inmates went on hunger strike to demand an inquest into his death.

Somali Canadian Rowda Mohamud won the inaugural Ross and Davis Mitchell Prize for Faith and Writing on October 31st, as part of the Faith in 150 initiative, for her collection of poetry reflecting on her experiences of faith in Islam, racism, Islamophobia, and identity as a Muslim woman in Canada. The prize is ten thousand dollars.

In October, Premier Kathleen Wynne met with members of the Rohingya refugee community and their allies in Kitchener-Waterloo, including many of the young actors from the play I Am Rohingya.

On October 6, Ontario’s New Democratic Party celebrated Ontario’s second annual Islamic Heritage Month by hosting an education and discussion day for Muslim youth at Queen’s Park. Nearly 70 high school students from two GTA schools came to learn more about how provincial politics work, and to have a chance to discuss current issues with NDP politicians and staff, including Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath.

On October 19th, a vigil was organized by Somali community members in partnership with the office of the Minister for Citizenship, Immigration, and Refugees, Somali Canadian Ahmed Hussen, to mourn the victims of the recent terrorist attack in Mogadishu which has killed over 500 people, leaving hundreds more injured.

Somali Canadian students across Canada, in Ottawa, Hamilton, Scarborough, Toronto, and Calgary, have been coming together to mourn the victims of the Mogadishu terrorist attack and to raise funds to support those directly impacted, particularly through LaunchGood’s crowdfunding page to support Aamin Ambulance which is helping people on the ground.

As the Somali community holds fundraisers in cities like Ottawa, Toronto, and Calgary this weekend to raise funds for the victims and their families, others are asking why their fellow Muslims and Canadians seem silent despite the magnitude of this terrorist attack.

On Saturday, October 21, folks in Toronto had an opportunity to hear from some emerging artists from Canada’s vibrant Black Muslim community. The Stars Within Us: A Black Muslimah Poetry & Theatre Showcase will debut original works developed in the Stellar (R)evolution (cycle 1) workshop series, a SPARK Cultural Hotspot program created and facilitated by Timaj Garad in partnership with the City of Toronto, also supported by I-Insight and the Children's Peace Theatre.

Muslim Link interviewed Spoken word poet Timaj Garad and two workshop participants, Shukria D. and Hafsa Ali,  who performed on Saturday, about why it is important to create spaces for young Black Muslim Canadian women to share their stories through art.

A group of Bangladeshi Canadian women living in Ottawa came together in 2015 to raise funds for maternal and newborn health in Bangladesh. They have started holding annual Bangladeshi cultural celebrations in Ottawa in order to raise funds and awareness about the health issues facing poor mothers in Bangladesh. The group, called Cure for Women and Children works in collaboration with Human Concern International. Their most recent event was their second annual Sheether Mela on October 15, 2017 held at SNMC mosque in Ottawa.

Muslim Link interviewed them about their work.

Founded through a partnership between Muslim Family Services of Ottawa (MFSO), the Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa (CASO), The Friends of CAS and the Children’s Aid Foundation of Ottawa (CAFO), the second annual Lamb Project was held. This project aims to provide the Muslim youth living in Foster Care in the Ottawa and surrounding regions the opportunity to stay connected to their religion and participate in the celebration of Eid Al Adha. This year’s project received overwhelming support from both community members and organizations surpassing the set goal of $2880. We would like to thank everyone who contributed to making this event a success. A special thank you The Ottawa Muslim Association (OMA), As-Sunnah Muslim Association (AMA), CAS Friends, the Children’s Aid Foundation, CAS Staff and the Pinecrest Queensway Community Health Centre for their generous donations.

On Sunday, October 1st, the Black Muslim Initiative-Ottawa will be having its first gathering. This will create a space for Black Muslims to discuss the challenges of life at the intersection of anti-Black racism and Islamophobia in Canada, as well as the strength that comes from having both the Black and Muslim traditions of resistance and resilience to draw from when facing these challenges.

It will also be an opportunity to meet award-winning Somali Canadian journalist Eman Idil Bare, who has recently moved to Ottawa to work as a producer on CBC's Power and Politics. Eman has been outspoken in calling attention to the issue of anti-Black racism within Muslim communties. Read Eman's CBC article about what self-identifying as Black means for young Torontonians here.