Good Samaritans invite Ottawa believers to join us in an Inter-Faith Food Drive to feed the poor and show interfaith solidarity at this time of increased intolerance. Bring some non-perishable food to your place of worship this Mother’s Day weekend as you go to pray. We are asking the place of worship to announce the food drive and deliver the food donations to the Ottawa Mosque parking lot, where volunteers will load it onto trucks for the Ottawa Food Bank.

The United Muslim Organizations of Ottawa-Gatineau were able to raise $64,000 in donations for Fort McMurray Fire Relief. Much of these donations came in from the Muslim community at Friday Prayer Services on May 6th. These donations are being channelled through the Canadian Red Cross, so they will be matched dollar for dollar by the Canadian government inshallah.

Muslim Link interviewed Islamic Relief Canada’s current CEO Zaid Al-Rawni about working within one of Canada’s largest Muslim charities.

Following the tragic killing of two Canadian soldiers in late October, flags at the Edmonton Islamic Academy (EIA) were flown at half-mast. Students joined fellow citizens in mourning the loss and the school principal offered special assemblies to discuss the Islamic perspective on such a tragedy.
"We started from the Quranic verse which says that whoever kills one human being, [it is] as if they have killed all of mankind. This was a crime equivalent to the killing of the whole of mankind," recalled Principal Moussa Ouarou, who was formerly the principal at Ottawa's Abraar School.

The Fondation Nzamwita Omary is a registered charity serving Rwandans in various sectors. This year, they are supporting three projects: Tere Imbere (Move Forward) which provides income-generating opportunities for families, the Iftar program which feeds any hungry person (Muslim or non-Muslim) who comes to a mosque, and a program to cover high school tuition for needy students.
Muslim Link spoke with Amina Umuzayire, whose father originally founded the charity.

From December 9 to 26 of 2013, I traveled to Mount Everest in Nepal as part of a group of young Muslims fundraising for Islamic Relief Canada. For a few years now, I have been personally raising funds for orphan sponsorship by asking family and friends. Two years ago, a friend of mine encouraged me to participate in Islamic Relief Canada's CN Tower Edge Walk Challenge. It was a great experience being 1168ft above the ground, on the roof of CN Tower's restaurant! That's when I was introduced to Islamic Relief's challenges.

As a wave of change sweeps the Islamic world and Muslim countries are opening up to plurality and democracy, citizens of these countries now have the opportunity to play their role of a strong civil society. But for civil society to become sustainable, development in indigenous philanthropy is required.  The heavy reliance on foreign donors was never an effective solution to local society as it promoted an orientation to the needs and perspectives of the donor, rather than the community served. A heavy or exclusive reliance on government funding is worse as it comes with a heavy hidden tag price. Fee-for-services and other forms of income have also proven to be unsustainable.

When Waris Malik and his team of volunteers from the Islamic Foundation of Toronto set out to form a community soup kitchen back in 2005, they had little idea that their efforts would lead to the establishment of the first free restaurant-style soup kitchen in Canada.

It was during his involvement with relief efforts for the Indian Ocean Tsunami disaster when Mr. Malik realized that in addition to what was being done overseas, there was need at home as well, right in his own community: “We thought, if we have done so much for overseas efforts, why don't we do something for our own city and our own country?” And thus Hot Soup Day was developed.