News

The Awakening: Reviving the Spirit of Somali Youth Conference has grown into an annual event that celebrates the achievements of Somali Canadians while also providing a platform to discuss community challenges. The conference returns for its fifth year on Saturday, January 30th. 

Modest Muslimah is crowdfunding to make their programs accessible to all young Muslim women. Muslim Link spoke with Nayaelah Abdussamad Sedeke about how she has created a space to empower and inspire Muslim women in Ottawa. A student at the University of Ottawa and an aspiring entrepreneur, Nayaelah co-founded Modest Muslimah to fill a social gap she and her sister identified.

History is replete with Muslims who, over the course of history, have had an irreversible effect on civilization as we know it. The accomplishments of Muslim scholars in the fields of arts, math, and science are well known by many Muslims and non-Muslims.

This year a gala will be held to celebrate and reward achievements in the Canadian Muslim community. The inaugural edition of the Muslim Awards of Excellence or MAX Gala will showcase top achievers within the Canadian Muslim community and Canadian community at large.

In early December, local imams, along with other faith leaders, attended a workshop at the South Nepean Muslim Community (SNMC) mosque exploring the intersection of mental illness and the law. The workshop was presented by Connecting Ottawa as part of The Spirit of the Law, a provincial project run by Interfaith Initiatives for Civic Engagement (IICE) and funded by the Law Foundation of Ontario. The project aims to work with faith communities to ensure that people living with mental illness who come in to conflict with the law can receive support by ensuring that faith communities and legal professionals are taking a holistic approach to their care.

People in Ottawa are very generous and have collected tons of clothes, furniture, and household items for refugees coming to the city. But all this generosity has created a problem, where to store all this stuff, particularly as many refugees will not be in a postition to accept these items until they are properly settled in the city.

The Keep Them Warm - Holiday Initiative was started by Jenan Dayfallah, a student at Carleton University. Her many encounters with people concerned about homelessness in our community inspired her to take to social media and create the project. Asking for anyone who wanted to make a difference to join her, the response was outstanding and a group of 15 came together to form Keep Them Warm.

A group of University of Ottawa students created

to raise awareness about the recent terrorist attacks in Mali and Nigeria. Muslim Link interviewed them about why they felt it was important to bring more attention to the reality of terrorism in West Africa. We spoke with the video’s producer Virgille Koffi, and with Halima Moumouni, Aissatou Bah, and Abdoulaye Sow who appear in the video.

Sexual abuse, pornography, birth control — for many Muslim parents, the thought of discussing sensitive subjects such as these with their children makes them very uncomfortable.

But it shouldn’t, according to Sameera Qureshi, a Calgary-based occupational therapist. She recently held a workshop called “The Talk: How to Educate Your Children about Islamic Sexual Health” for the first time in Edmonton. The session was held in collaboration with Tarjuma, a local group that creates gatherings to facilitate the growth of community, Islamic literacy and emotional wellness.

In the wake of the Paris Attacks, the only mosque in Kawartha, Peterborough, Ontario, was set on fire, causing over $80,000 worth of damage. The Kawartha Muslim Religious Association, Masjid Al-SalaamMasjid Al-Salaam, is currently fundraising for repairs.

NCCM condemns terror attacks in Paris. Expresses condolences to the families of the victims

There has been an increase in hate related incidents in Ottawa reported this October, particularly targeting Muslim women wearing hijab or niqab. The Ottawa Police Service has reached out to the Muslim community and the mainstream media to encourage reporting of these incidents.

An unprecedented number of Muslim Canadians ran in the 2015 Federal Election. With the Liberal surge nationally, particularly in the Greater Toronto Area, several of them won, including Canada's first Somali Canadian MP Ahmed Hussen and Canada's first Afghan Canadian MP Maryam Monsef. The majority of Muslim Canadians who will be coming to Parliament are newcomers to politics with the exception of Omar Alghabra and Yasmin Ratansi who were previously Liberal MPs. So far, we have confirmed 11 Muslim Canadian Candidates in total, the largest number in Canadian history. 10 were elected with the Liberal Party and 1 with the Conservative Party. 

Please note that this may not be a complete list. If you know of any other Muslim Canadians who won this election please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

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. 

Hundreds of Ottawa residents gathered on September 5th to raise awareness about the global refugee crisis and what is seen as the current Canadian government’s ongoing lack of support for refugees.

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.