News

The fifth annual Expressions of Muslim Women (EMW) took place on Saturday, November 17 at the Centrepointe Studio Theatre. The sold-out event raised funds for local charities like Sadaqa Food Bank and Nelson House, a shelter for women and children fleeing abuse.

The title of this year's event was “Strength in Sisterhood”, a theme which ran through several of the performances that evening. The theme was also embodied by the commitment of the event organizers, a group of women who have volunteered to make EMW an artistic celebration for women to look forward to each year.

Women wearing the niqab (face veil) will have an opportunity to talk candidly about their experiences to opinion and policy makers, through a new study by the Canadian Council of Muslim Women (CCMW).

The research, funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation, a government agency, will be carried out in consultation with Shahrzad Mojab, Professor at the Ontario Institute of Studies in Education at the University of Toronto.

A local public health researcher wants to hear from minority women, including Muslims, who have used maternal care services at the Ottawa Hospital.

With colleagues from the University of Ottawa, Dr. Sylvia Reitmanova has begun a survey titled “Diversity-inclusive maternal healthcare services” which aims to capture the experiences of women who have had any experiences with the Ottawa Hospital during pregnancy and birth. This includes General, Civic and Riverside campuses.

Canadian Blood Services are encouraged by the "fantastic" success of their two blood clinics with the Ottawa Muslim Association (OMA) and would like to build a mutually rewarding relationship with the Muslim community, Community Development Coordinator Glen Crowe says.

Algonquin College has opened a spiritual centre for its students in the brand new Robert C. Gillett Student Commons Building. The centre has a large prayer room, two rooms for ablutions, and three offices for each of the major faiths represented at the school: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

The centre officially opened on Nov. 1, 2012 with an interfaith prayer service and lunch which brought together students, school administration, and religious leaders from outside the campus, to celebrate.

It's Nov. 17, and as Somali-Canadian student Sharmake Abdulkarim delivers the khutbah (sermon) at the jummah (Friday) prayer, he encourages his fellow Muslim students not to gossip or backbite, and to help each other through the stressful time of exams and midterms.

“I have to admit, I was nervous,” Mr. Sharmake says, but he welcomes the encouragement he receives from Adel ElMaghrabi, the centre's full-time volunteer Imam, to write khutbahs that will be relevant to the lives of his fellow students.

“When the students come to jummah, they need to hear something that will help them in their daily lives,” Imam ElMaghrabi says.

Violence in Syria since an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad's regime erupted more than 20 months ago has claimed the lives of thousands of people, mostly civilians. One of the latest victims of the conflict was Mu'ath Jafar Al Shebli, 35. His sister in-law Aminah Kandar, an Ottawa resident studying in Qatar, tells of the family's grief and loss.

Local and national Muslim organizations have strongly condemned the defacement of a war memorial in Toronto's Coronation Park that took place on Remembrance Day.

The Abraar School is celebrating another year of stellar performances on province-wide academic tests.

For the sixth year running, third and sixth grade students at Abraar School scored well above provincial averages on the standardized EQAO Test that measures performance in reading, writing and mathematics.

In the 2011-2012 school year report, Abraar Grade 3 students scored 22 percentage points higher than the provincial average in reading, 24 per cent higher in writing and 28 per cent higher in mathematics; with a perfect 100 per cent in writing.

Ottawa residents were pleasantly surprised with free roses on Oct. 27 from a group of young Muslims. Students and volunteers handed out a thousand “peace roses” to passers-by in downtown Ottawa as part of a global campaign to educate the public about the noble character of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings upon him.

In the last twelve years, five Muslim men have been held under national security certificates including men who had been successfully admitted into Canada as refugees by our government. After spending over 25 years in prison combined, none of them has been charged with a crime and none has had the opportunity to exercise their constitutional right to full answer and defence.

Founder and former longtime president of the Ottawa Muslim Women's Organization, Nazira Tareen, is among 15 residents who will be inducted into the new Order of Ottawa during a formal ceremony at City Hall on Nov. 22.

The Muslim Coordinating Council of the National Capital Region is grateful that nine Muslims in the region are receiving the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Award on the recommendation of the council.

Foreign policy experts, students, and members of the community met for a panel discussion about the future of Afghanistan at the University of Ottawa on Nov. 14.

The panel, hosted by the group Afghanistan: Pathways to Peace and the University of Ottawa Amnesty International Club, discussed the different ways in which Afghanistan may establish stability once the U.S. reduces its military presence in the region after 2014.

Inspired in part by the memory of his Palestinian grandfather, an Ottawa student has helped raise more than $40,000 for a charity that distributes bicycles in Africa.

Mahmoud Abuwasel, a Rockcliffe resident and his classmates at Harvard University donated the money to the World Bicycle Relief, an organization that provides bicycles to farmers, students, entrepreneurs and health care workers in remote areas of Africa.

WBR is unique in that it does not provide money or food for individuals. Instead it gives people bicycles, says Mahmoud Abuwasel.

Lively dance performances by a First Nations group and a Lebanese trio were among the highlights of Human Concern International's 32nd Annual Dinner.

Although the volume for the show was a little louder than some people would have liked, the event was enjoyed by most of those in attendance. HCI Events and Media Coordinator Mahmuda Khan says she received overwhelmingly positive feedback from many of the over 360 guests at the banquet. The majority were pleased with the opportunity to hear about new HCI initiatives from speakers at the event.

Despite a day of truly terrible weather, well over 800 people turned up for the International Food Festival on Oct. 14. They came out to the St. Elias Banquet Hall to enjoy food and performances representing Ottawa's multicultural mosaic and to show their support for the people of Yemen.

The festival, a joint initiative of local youth group Gentler and Softer Hearts and the charity Human Concern International (HCI), raised awareness about the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

Help may soon be just a phone call away for Muslim women in distress.

1-888-315-NISA, the first toll-free anonymous phone counseling service for Canadian Muslimahs, is being launched this month by Mercy Mission, a non-profit Islamic organization.

The helpline, a project of Mercy Mission's Women's Resource Centre, is designed to answer questions and provide references and advice to Muslim women across the country seeking support, guidance or even a listening ear.

A recent announcement from the office of Public Safety Minister Vic Toews ”“ that all non-Christian chaplains working in the national penitentiary system will have their contracts cancelled ”“ has sent shockwaves through Canada's interfaith and multicultural organizations.

The Canadian Islamic Congress has denounced the move, saying it is unfair to Canadians of all faiths.

A campaign to write condolence letters to the family of the late U.S. Ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens ended on Sept. 24, but its impact is continuing. The campaign initially hoped for 1,000 letters in 10 days. Instead it went viral with over 7,500 letters from 115 countries.

Mr. Stevens was killed this September in Benghazi by an armed mob protesting violently against the release of an obscure anti-Islam film in the United States. In response to the tragedy, Celebrate Mercy, a non-profit organization which tries to promote the values and example of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings upon him, organized a letter-writing campaign.

This week, a young Muslim woman will give a keynote address on integration with Canadian society to a large gathering in Toronto. In mid-October, Muslim women will recognise their peers who have made a difference with contributions to civic engagement in Canada. And later this year, a Muslim woman will be honoured by the Canadian government for championing women's rights and promoting interfaith dialogue.