By Sanaa Asif

Sep/Oct 2024

In this rat-race-like existence, Muslim women sometimes find it hard to balance work, family, and religion. More women are pursuing full-time careers after marriage and children. Yet the bulk of household duties still fall on them, a reality that leaves little time for uninterrupted worship. In addition, not all mosques have welcoming spaces for women and/or children. 

Thus the emergence of women-led Muslim community centers has been a welcome development. Two prime examples are the Rabata Cultural Center (www.rabata.org), which has a heavy online presence and an in-person center in Arden Hills, Minn. — about eight miles from the downtowns of Minneapolis and Saint Paul — and the Aisha Fatima Community Center (AFC; aishafatimacommunity.org), which offers in-person classes and social gatherings in Chicago’s suburb of Lombard. Both organizations aim to build and reinforce spiritual knowledge and community through deen-centered, female-focused learning and activities. 

“The inspiration for AFC basically came from the lack of Muslim women’s physical spaces, where we can interact and learn from female scholars, and also build community,” said co-founder Juwairiyah Kholwadia (founder, The Hijab Vault; https://thehijabvault.com/). Their main goal is to create a warm, welcoming and non-judgmental environment to integrate both the old and new communities of Chicago’s suburbs and provide a safe space for them to learn and grow together.

Rabata, from the Arabic words “to connect,” “form bonds of friendship,” and “composure”, had a similar starting point. Manager Michelle Sekusky describes how Anse Tamara Gray, EdD (founder, Rabata), an Islamic scholar, author, educator, and popular speaker, became inspired after noticing a void in women’s needs. “Education is really a key to positive cultural change, which is our vision and mission statement. It’s creating positive cultural change through creative educational experiences,” Sekusky said.

AFC started off with brainstorming sessions, involving input from women of various ages, backgrounds, and stages in life. They used the feedback to curate their programs. “We always knew that the core of AFC would focus on spirituality and religion, but we really wanted to incorporate and integrate discussions of taboo topics within the mental health field, the community health field, women’s wellness and health,” Kholwadia explains. 

For instance, in June they convened a session about the Islamic views on cosmetic procedures. In addition to faith and learning, they also host social events such as watercolor night, geometric design workshops, and tatreez classes to give women a chance to connect.

Rabata had a similar journey, evolving from a simple bookstore to a center for in-person and hybrid programs. Their academic wing, Ribaat, has dozens of courses, classes, certifications, and ijazahs to choose from. “We went from just having random events to now having multiple regular monthly events. We also offer childcare for women taking classes,” Sekusky added. Rabata’s very ethnically diverse all-women board of directors feels more representative of our ummah’s diversity than many other centers — even mosques. 

A Day Inside 

Each day brings new experiences. “Truthfully, no day looks the same, even if it’s the same event,” Kholwadia states. However, some days need to be split between events and administrative work. Their planning days are more of a mental workout during which they focus on program ideation, creation, marketing, and registration. They reach out to their team to find the right instructor or connect with others to collaborate. They like to plan events ahead of time. For instance, Ramadan planning begins roughly six months in advance. 

“We’re continuously looking for ways to improve and expand our offerings,” Kholwadia notes. “We welcome anyone who would like to join the AFC admin or volunteer team. We are actively looking for women with interest and knowledge of marketing, event planning, outreach, and fundraising.”

On the other hand, event days look very different. “On the day of an event, we’ll typically arrive 1 to 3 hours early. Volunteers help move tables, chairs, and even sofas to accommodate the crowds. AFC often provides refreshments and snacks during its events, which also need to be picked up. They also need to set up any technical equipment and other resources the presenter may need. 

“Most importantly, we’ll have people ready to greet every attendee as they walk in, so they have someone to connect with even if they came alone,” Kholwadia remarks. Throughout the event, the team continuously makes sure attendees are comfortable and have everything they need.

Successes and Obstacles

As female-focused community centers develop a wider audience and attract larger crowds, they also experience both successes and obstacles. A major obstacle both centers faced was increasing their staff base. Sekusky started managing Rabata in 2021. At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, much of its programs were online. But as the center continued to grow, many programs started becoming in-person. “In 2022 we grew so much at the Center that we were able to expand into the space next door. But as fast as we grew, we needed more people, right? Getting great staff always takes time,” Sekusky says. Rabata now also offers Rabateen classes for teenage girls and Dragonflies for 6–12-year-olds. 

AFC has similar struggles. While they love their volunteers, they also know it’s hard to expect them to commit to something long term. Another issue was that people were asking for virtual programs, even though at its core AFC was all about their physical space. “We really wanted women to come out and get to know each other and learn in person,” Kholwadia explains. While they stayed true to their mission and continued encouraging in-person attendance for events, AFC also started hosting some virtual events to expand their presence nationwide.

As both community centers have continued to grow, they have learned to adapt to their audience’s preferences. Sekusky says that the online Rabata Academic Institute (www.facebook.com/rabataribaat/) attracts a wide variety of people. “It’s a serious program to dive into Islamic studies, and the reason I think it’s attractive for most of the students is that online classes are recorded,” she states. Having the flexibility to watch a lesson at a more convenient time can be attractive to busy parents, college students, or working individuals. 

However, Sekusky also observes the appeal of in-person programs for others. “You find different crowds in different spaces — some people really need that social aspect; especially reverts need that family and bonding.” Overall, she sees value in both the online and in-person communities.

The AFC staff believes that the speaker plays a valuable role in attracting audiences. They have their regular speakers, to whom a lot of women have listened. Many attendees have a favorite speaker they connect with, and if they see her name they are quicker to register. “We really like to focus on the content of our events and want our attendees to feel a sense of personal development, but also [for them to] enjoy the space,” Kholwadia remarks. “Everybody loves food. Whenever we invite outside vendors with fancy bubble teas and coffee, it’s a hit. It’s great because we also get to support other small Muslim businesses within the community.” 

Rabata and AFC strive to make women feel welcome and seen, whether through their programs or their environment. “Our teachers have dedicated their lives to being ‘forever students’ and knowledgeable teachers. They have studied traditionally and from so many paths that you’re learning from a well-rounded female scholar who is knowledgeable in whatever field of Islam she’s teaching,” Sekusy says. The wide variety of programs covered through Rabata and the welcoming, humble teachers play an important role in helping Muslim women located all around the nation gain knowledge and community. 

Sanaa Asif, a senior at Hinsdale Central High School, is an avid reader and loves to learn and write about others and their experiences.

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By Malika Harris 

Sep/Oct 2024

The Black Canadian Muslim organization (BCM) was formed during the Covid pandemic by a handful of community members who realized that the larger Muslim community was struggling to process the impact of systemic racism on our modern-day society, the same system that made all of us eyewitnesses to the police brutality in the U.S. that killed George Floyd. 

It was extremely painful to hear some Muslim community leaders suggest that this racially based issue had nothing to do with our community. This rhetoric was another daunting reminder of why it is important to have Black Muslim representation within the leadership of our larger community. This reality motivated us to create an organization that would strive to fulfill the spiritual, social, and educational needs of the Black Canadian Muslim community, in the hope of helping us reconnect and reclaim our community’s rightful place within the folds of Islam. 

       From the very dawn of Islam, we see its foundation built on an inclusive framework, one that united humanity and called all people to unite under one faith. When Prophet Muhammad (salla Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) was ostracized by the Meccan tribes he was forced to send most of the small community of Muslims that existed at the time away to escape. He turned to an African civilization for support. The Prophet showed no hesitation or any of the prejudice towards Black people that is still so visible among Muslims today. Instead, he viewed the people of Abyssinia (modern-day Ethiopia) as allies, fellow monotheists, who worshiped One God and strove to follow the teachings of Prophet ‘Isa (‘alayhi as salam). 

The Prophet’s demonstration of racial inclusivity is what facilitated this long standing and thriving relationship between Africa and Islam that continues to exist until today. 

   Islam’s position on racial equality is crystal clear. “O humanity, We have created you male and female, and appointed you races and tribes, that you may know one another. Surely the noblest among you in the sight of God is the most God-fearing of you. God is All-knowing, All-aware” (Quran 49:13). 

Black Canadian Muslims

This is why Black Canadian Muslims are often caught off guard when they interact with Muslims who outwardly acknowledge the Prophet’s example, while simultaneously submitting to cultural norms that dilute Islamic ideals and leave minimal room for the tangible practice of Islam’s teachings regarding this issue. 

For the most part, this experience extends to both Black Muslim’s reverts who returned to Islam in the last half century and their offspring, as well as those families who can trace their lineage back to early Islam. However, the descendants of the enslaved Africans whose ancestors were brought to the West via the trans-Atlantic slave trade who face a unique set of challenges because their ancestral identity was stripped away, who embraced Islam and the hope to join a community that practices and promotes anti-racism where they can truly belong. One can imagine the internal conflict they endure as their newfound community continues to marginalize them. Especially when they realize that the longstanding contributions of Muslims who looked like them are often neither valued nor celebrated. 

These realities motivated the formation of an organization that is rooted in Islamic ideology while striving to serve this group’s complex needs because of historical slavery and ongoing systemic racism. Most BCM members are individuals who reverted to Islam in the 1960s and 70s, as well as their children and grandchildren who they have strived to pass their love of Islam to. BCM’s main goal was to create a safe space in which Black Muslim families, especially our youth, could develop a connection as Muslims while countering the rejection they often face in the larger community.   

People often ask, “Why create a Muslim organization that focuses on one race?” 

The reality is that the Western Muslim Community has been dividing itself into culturally based organizations for the last three decades. As Muslims, we know that even though specific organizations may give themselves a culturally or racially neutral name, specific cultural groups often run certain mosques and organizations and most often cater to their cultural community’s needs. This practice, unfortunately, marginalizes some minority groups. This was a common experience expressed by many Black Muslims. Which is why we felt it was necessary to form a community group that strives to unite individuals, and families who share similar lived experiences. 

Over the last three years, we’ve managed to provide family, youth and children’s programs that serve our specific needs. For example, our annual BBQ and Eid celebrations, which have been attended by 100 or more Black Muslim participants. many of whom reverted 50+ years ago and their families as well as more recent reverts to Islam. 

The intention was never to divide, but to serve a marginalized group, until the larger community understands the value of including Black Muslims. The ideal has always been to see our larger Muslim community return to our Prophet’s example: where Muslims of all races, creeds and cultures feel respected, included and valued.   

Malika Harris is the co-founder of the Black Canadian Muslim organization in Toronto, Ontario.

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By Marwa Mahmod

Sep/Oct 2024

Canada is often referred to as a “Cultural Mosaic” for its ethnocultural and religious diversity. While Muslims are a relatively small minority, they are one of the country’s largest minority groups and have more than doubled their numbers within 20 years. According to Statistics Canada, from 2001 to 2021 this population increased from 2.0% to 4.9%. In fact, after Christianity, Islam is Canada’s second most reported religion — nearly 1.8 million (1 in 20) people self-identify as Muslim. 

Canada’s Muslims, 63.1% of whom are immigrants, represent a variety of racialized groups. While Ontario and Quebec have reported the highest number of Muslims, this minority is expected to continue to grow nationwide. Like all minorities, especially religious ones, Muslims have unique needs and challenges that influence their collective mental health and well-being.

Understanding Mental Health

To better understand Canada’s Muslim mental health landscape, we should ponder the WHO’s definition: “[A] state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community.” While it can include anxiety, depression, mental and psychosocial disorders, mental health is so much more than just the absence of mental disorders. We should think of it as being on a spectrum or continuum — one that affects how we think, feel and act toward ourselves and others. 

A variety of individual, social and structural determinants of health interact to protect or challenge our mental health. Individual psychological and biological factors, such as emotional skills and genetics, can make people more vulnerable. Exposure to unfavorable social, economic, geopolitical and environmental circumstances, such as inequality and violence, can also increase one’s risk. Risk factors that occur during developmentally sensitive periods, such as in early childhood, are especially detrimental. 

In contrast, protective factors are elements in our lives that help strengthen our resilience and ability to cope, thereby minimizing the risk of mental health challenges. These can include individual, social and emotional skills and traits; quality education, gainful employment, positive social interactions; along with faith, families and communities that support resilience, safety and cohesion. 

Current Efforts to Help

Muslim have progressed as a community, whereas discussing mental health remains a taboo topic. Misconceptions, such as the belief that poor mental health indicates a lack of faith or is a divine punishment, can contribute to internalized stigma and wondering if there is something inherently wrong or inadequate with oneself. The emotional impact of self-stigma can often be greater than the symptoms initially experienced, as it destroys self-esteem, self-efficacy and one’s outlook on life. This shame-based vicious cycle further isolates us from seeking support. 

Over the past 20 years, several Canadian organizations and institutions have sought to increase awareness and destigmatize seeking treatment for mental health conditions. The Mississauga-based Naseeha Mental Health (www.naseeha.org) is a registered nonprofit, Islam-inspired organization with a newly added branch in the U.S. In addition to a 24/7 confidential, anonymous and free helpline across North America, its team develops and facilitates various psychoeducational programs in addition to a web therapy program that offers sliding scale fees and free therapy for qualifying low-income clients.

Naseeha also provides crisis support to families and communities struck by tragedies, such as the June 2023 terrorist attack in London, ON, that claimed the lives of four Muslim family members and left a nine-year-old boy seriously injured and orphaned. This tragedy was the worst crime against Muslims in Canada since the terrorist attack during January 2017, in which a gunman murdered six worshippers at the Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec City and injured nineteen others. 

600% Surge in Helpline Calls

Experiences of Islamophobia, xenophobia, racism and discrimination can significantly impact mental health, for they can create a pervasive sense of fear and lead to chronic stress, anxiety, depression, social isolation and PTSD. During November 2023, Naseeha Mental Health reported an alarming 600% surge in helpline calls from predominately Muslim Canadians experiencing marginalization in their schools and workplaces, as well as symptoms of anxiety and depression due to the ongoing genocide in Palestine. 

One of this community’s biggest challenges remains the need for more culturally sensitive mental health services nationwide. This became particularly heightened during the Covid-19 pandemic, especially for those Muslims living in more remote areas who had to struggle to access these already limited supports. 

Cedarway Therapy (https://cedarwaytherapy.com/), a private practice in Ontario, provides a range of in-person and virtual individual, couples and family therapy; diagnostic and psychoeducational assessments services; and group sessions and workshops. Their team of clinicians treat clients across the lifespan, including young children and the elderly, by using different evidence-based modalities in diverse languages while integrating Islam and faith-based counselling — which has been a growing demand. 

Research has consistently demonstrated that religion and spiritualty are protective factors of mental and physical health, both of which are intrinsically tied together. Higher levels of spirituality have been found to increases hope, purpose, coping strategies, resilience and gratitude, with clients seeing a reduction in symptoms of anxiety and depression. Muslim clinicians who understand their community are better equipped to provide appropriate, individualized, culturally sensitive and therapeutically effective care, because they offer a deeper awareness of Islamic teachings and cultural nuances. 

Emerging Themes 

In my own clinical practice, I’ve observed a few common topics among Muslim clients: coping with symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression; navigating family and romantic relationships; managing faith-based dilemmas; and addressing childhood and intergenerational trauma. Other themes include loneliness, caregiver stress, acculturation, academic and workplace stressors, divorce and single parenthood, domestic violence, parent-youth conflict and marital issues.

Currently, the most prevalent theme among my adult clients is navigating relationships with emotionally immature family members who lack self-awareness, especially in a manner that aligns with their cultural and religious values. On the other end of the spectrum, addiction is one of the fewest presenting issues I have come across. At face value, rates of substance abuse and addiction may seem low compared to other groups. However, research suggests that Muslims living in Western societies are more likely to have addiction issues than those living in Muslim-majority spaces. In addition, Muslims in Canada are less likely to access mental health services than the general population. 

Addiction stigma is particularly prevalent. According to Ahmed Hassan (addiction psychiatrist, Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health [CAMH], www.camh.ca), among the reasons for this are misconceptions about available services; fears that treatment will be disclosed to employers; and beliefs that addiction is shameful, sinful and shouldn’t be discussed outside the family. Naturally, all of these deter individuals from seeking support and treatment, thereby increasing isolation. 

Likewise, Muslim clients are generally reluctant to seek therapy for other addictions, such as pornography, sex, sexual shame, infidelity and other such issues. Professionally speaking, I don’t believe that our community necessarily faces fewer challenges with these issues when compared to the general population. Instead, we tend to conceal them and hesitate to seek support and treatment due to cultural and religious shame, fear of judgment and perceived cultural notions of hayaa (modesty).  

As a clinician, I work collaboratively with clients to identify their therapeutic goals to address presenting issues. Treatment planning can include providing psychoeducation, learning various coping strategies, developing effective communication skills, identifying values, discussing boundary setting, processing emotions, expressing needs, challenging negative thoughts, safety-planning, developing self-awareness, fostering gratitude, nurturing kindness and compassion for self and others, highlighting strengths, exploring collective healing and reclaiming intergenerational wisdom and gifts. 

Looking Forward 

Despite the growing Muslim population, there is a lack of academic research focused on their mental health needs. Over the past few decades, Muslims working in the social and health sectors have raised concerns over the need for a collaborative national strategy that addresses the realities impacting their mental health and well-being, among them various forms of stigma, limited culturally competent care and services, systemic barriers, and socioeconomic and political factors. Addressing these issues requires a multifaceted approach and cohesive strategy that involves collaboration among healthcare providers, researchers, community and spiritual leaders, and policymakers. 

Several organizations and institutions are doing incredible work to support and address these concerns. However, most of them are based in Ontario, a reality that needs to be changed in order to expand access to evidence-based culturally and spiritually appropriate mental health resources and services nationwide. Immigration experiences, including acculturation challenges and encounters with racism and discrimination, significantly impact mental health outcomes. 

Developing and integrating an anti-oppressive lens and decolonized approach to therapy is crucial for creating a more equitable mental health care system that addresses systemic inequities, enhances cultural competence, fosters social justice and advocacy, improves overall therapeutic outcomes and empowers Muslims. By developing a more comprehensive understanding and addressing our unique needs and barriers, we can make mental health services more accessible and effective while cultivating thriving and resilient families and communities.

Marwa Mahmod is a registered psychotherapist in Ontario. She has acquired significant experience in supporting the community due to her roles at Nisa Homes, Naseeha Mental Health and Cedarway Therapy. 

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By Rabia Khedr

Sep/Oct 2024

Islam places a profound emphasis on the care and support of the vulnerable, including people with disabilities. The Quran and Hadith provide numerous examples that highlight the importance of supporting them and ensuring that they’re treated with dignity and respect.

 Prophet Muhammad (salla Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) emphasized this duty so that these Muslims would be included and considered valued members of society. 

DEEN Support Services began as a conversation around a kitchen table to address their lack of support and representation in mainstream organizations. This organization has grown from a drop-in program at a local masjid to purchasing a property and running programs seven days a week. This has led to laying the foundation and serves as the backbone of a visionary initiative to establish Canada’s first residential care home for Muslims with disabilities. Its underlying principle is “Nothing about us, without us.”

People with disabilities, particularly intellectual ones, are often the most vulnerable, abandoned, impoverished, abused, neglected, stigmatized and isolated people worldwide, regardless of faith. Cultural misperceptions contribute to devaluing them and keeping alive the prevailing negative attitudes. 

Although federal and provincial legislation stresses a rights-based approach and supports it via the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities and the Optional Protocol, Canada has yet to make inclusive and equitable services and support for racialized people with disabilities a reality. The 2017 official Canadian Survey on Disabilities shows that the prevalence of disabilities is greater than many realize — 22% of Canadians identify as disabled. 

Additional Hurdles

Such Muslims face a unique set of challenges in Western societies. Along with the usual barriers such as lack of accessibility and social exclusion, they often encounter additional hurdles. For example, mainstream establishments may not adequately cater to their religious practices, dietary restrictions or the cultural nuances essential for their well-being. In many cases, Muslims and their families struggle because no existing facilities respect their daily religious observances, such as prayer times and halal food. 

Such realities can lead to feelings of isolation and neglect. Personal stories abound of families having to choose between quality care and maintaining their religious identity — a choice that no one should have to make.

Conventional services in a Western context cater to the needs of middle-class white families who have been integral, along with their faith communities, to establishing and shaping social policy and programs that support people with disabilities. As in the community living movement, families drove the nation’s deinstitutionalization process. Canada used to place people from childhood into regional centers or hospital-like institutions. 

As human rights advancements were being made for racialized people, women and other minorities, parents and individuals with disabilities began demanding to live in the community with support. Supportive housing models, home care services and group homes emerged as options, leading to the shutdown of institutions and sheltered workshops.

Christian and Jewish denominations set up service agencies to apply for government funds to operate group homes and other programs. Although open to supporting their diverse needs, these places often fall short of meeting lifestyle needs.

Through the 2007 “Towards An Inclusive Ummah Muslims With Disabilities Speak-Out” report, these communities documented their members’ needs and ultimately established DEEN Support Services and the Muneeba Centre (purchased interest-free through the Ansar Cooperative Housing Cooperation). The center’s vision is to offer cross-disability services and implement a respite and a care residential model that responds to the cultural and spiritual needs of Muslims with disabilities and their families.

There is a pressing need for homes designed to cater specifically to the faith and cultural needs of these Muslims. Such homes would provide a supportive environment in which individuals can practice their faith freely and live among those who understand and respect their cultural background. 

Bridging the Gap

The current landscape of disability housing in the West often overlooks these critical aspects, thereby creating a gap that this new initiative aims to fill. Testimonials from affected families highlight the profound impact that faith-based homes could have. One mother shared, “My son’s disability means he requires constant care, but finding a facility that also respects his need to pray and eat halal food has been impossible. This project gives us hope.”

The vision behind this project is to create an inclusive, supportive and faith-based living environment. The mission is clear: to ensure that every resident can live with dignity, respect and full access to his/her religious practices. The home will incorporate key Islamic values, such as compassion, community and service to others. The project’s goals are ambitious but attainable: to establish a model that accommodates a number of residents and to provide them with individual units, communal spaces and supports that cater to their physical, emotional and spiritual needs. The home’s design and facilities will ensure that accessibility and religious observance are seamlessly integrated.

This initiative’s success relies heavily on our community’s involvement and support. Fundraising efforts, events and volunteer opportunities have been crucial to mobilizing resources and raising awareness. The response has been overwhelmingly positive, with numerous testimonials from leaders and members alike expressing their support. One leader remarked, “This project is a testament to our collective commitment to ensuring that no one is left behind. It’s about building a future where everyone, regardless of their abilities, can thrive.”

This project’s impact cannot be overstated. It will provide a safe, nurturing and religiously compliant environment in which residents can live fulfilling lives. The benefits extend outward, setting a precedent for similar initiatives nationwide and, potentially, worldwide. Long-term, this project promises to foster a more inclusive society where all individuals’ needs are met with compassion and respect. It will serve as a model for integrating cultural and religious considerations into disability care, benefiting all faith communities.

Undertaking such a project comes with its fair share of challenges. Securing adequate funding, navigating regulatory requirements and ensuring that the design meets all accessibility standards are significant hurdles. However, through strategic planning, community support and unwavering determination, these challenges are being addressed.

The initiative to build such a home represents a significant step forward in creating a more inclusive and compassionate society. It also underscores the importance of addressing individuals’ unique needs while respecting their faith and cultural identity. In fact, it’s not just about building a home, but about building a future in which everyone is valued and supported. As this initiative progresses, there will be a continued call for support and involvement. Together, our community can ensure that this vision becomes a reality, providing a beacon of hope and a model for future projects.

For those interested in learning more or getting involved, can visit https://deensupportservices.ca. Together, we can make a difference and build a future in which everyone has a place to call home.

Rabia Khedr is national director of Disability Without Poverty and CEO of DEEN Support Services. 

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The post Muslim Canada: Finding a Place to Call Home appeared first on Islamic Horizons.

By Muhammad Azam

Sep/Oct 2024

The Muslim Aid of Saskatchewan (MAS), located in the capital city of Regina, is a community-based organization committed to offering support with food and a capacity-building program to those in need. 

“Serving the Community With Excellence” was one of the many guiding principles that brought MAS to light in November 2021. With the support of locals, physicians and academics, it was officially registered as a nonprofit in Saskatchewan in January 2022. Volunteers are its essence and soul, for they run all its programs and activities. 

Community members engage their peers in its initiatives in part through the continuous recruitment of new volunteers through their X and Instagram pages by extending invitations to forthcoming food drives. The diverse hard-working team — 100+ Muslim volunteers at all school levels — is helping reduce food insecurity in the city’s downtown region. It also collaborates with Carmichael Outreach, Islamic Relief Canada, the Muslim Student Association of the University of Regina and other well-known programs. 

Weekly and Monthly Food Programs

Among its programs, MAS offers the Weekly Food distribution, the Monthly Food Hamper drive, the Shifaa program and Winter Kits. The Weekly Food distribution, which takes place every Saturday from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm in downtown Regina at the Darul Falah Islamic Centre, offers prepared lunch kits containing sandwiches, juice and fruit. Thanks to the volunteers and community donors, MAS has delivered 8,000+ meals so far.  

The Monthly Food Hamper drive, held on consecutive Saturdays, provides hampers of eggs, oil, pasta, flour, tomatoes, meat and other food items to low-income students, individuals and families. Started in November 2022, this critical program now supports about 100 recipients, offers essential sustenance and supports families living below the poverty line. 

The Shifaa program, inspired by the Arabic term shifaa (healing, cure and recovery), consists of mental health practitioners and professional counseling associates in psychology and social work. Working alongside the Canada-wide Muslim Food Bank, it offers mental health services related to addiction, migration and racial trauma, as well as surviving domestic abuse and violence. The involved professionals seek to fill a gap in existing counseling programs. 

When the city is experiencing harsh winter weather, volunteers distribute Winter Kits that include pillows and sleeping bags, deodorant, toothbrushes and toothpaste, socks and underwear, gloves and hand warmers. These items not only provide warmth, but also promote health and well-being, offering dignity and support to those facing challenging conditions. 

MAS’ weekly and monthly programs have had a significant impact. Their monthly food hampers are carefully curated to include most necessary groceries. They take into account the feedback they receive and feel that the encouraging words are what keeps them going. In the heart of our community, Saturdays radiate with compassion as dedicated volunteers convene for the MAS weekly food distribution. In the bustling streets of Downtown Regina, volunteers didn’t just distribute meals; they shared moments of solace and nourishment, igniting hope in every heart they touched. They extend their heartfelt appreciation to Knox-Metropolitan United Church for graciously opening their kitchen doors and to Darul Falah Islamic Centre for serving as a steadfast distribution hub. Their unwavering support fuels their mission to spread kindness and alleviate hunger. In the sacred month of Ramadan, they felt the warmth of community spirit growing stronger as it’s a time when generosity flourishes, and the bonds of solidarity deepen. 

Volunteering in -50 Degrees

“When the weather gets tough, our volunteers get tougher. If you’ve ever found yourself daydreaming about the prospect of encountering superheroes in reality, I invite you to look at our volunteers,” said one of the organizers. “As the temperature dropped almost to -50°C [-58° F], the dedication of our MAS heroes increased to 100 percent. Alhamdulillah, MAS’ dedicated volunteers showed up in downtown Regina despite the extreme cold warning to warm hearts and fill bellies.” 

In essence, MAS is a beacon of community support and solidarity in Regina. With each act of kindness and assistance, volunteers not only address immediate challenges, but also foster a sense of dignity and resilience among those individuals it helps. Through joint efforts and unwavering dedication, this team embodies the spirit of compassion and is enriching the lives of countless individuals across Saskatchewan.

Muhammad Azam is assistant director at the Kumon Math and Reading Learning Centre. 

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By Ahmad Khodr

Sep/Oct 2024

Muslim children and teens naturally face immense pressure to assimilate into the culture around them. According to a 2016 study “From Islamophobia to Identity Crisis: Internalized Oppression Among American Muslim Children,” by Aaser, S. H. of Noor Kids, 1 in 3 children does not want to tell others they are Muslim. So, what price are you willing to pay to keep yours on the straight path with a strong Muslim identity?

MuslimKids.TV

The team at MuslimKids.TV, one of the first Muslim video streaming services, says that its members are willing to go the extra mile to keep their children on the right path. 

Within the media realm, $1 million is almost an intangible amount. For example, “Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie” had a budget of over $40 million, Typical movie budgets often exceed $100 million.

For MuslimKids.TV, $1 million is a significant start and a blessing to launch “Time Hoppers: The Silk Road,” the company’s first 3D animated cartoon. The series will launch on the MuslimKids.TV streaming service in Fall 2024, followed by a feature film adaptation (available in 2025).

What is uniquely Canadian is that much of the funding has come through Canadian production industry incentives. “The biggest challenge for media professionals developing Muslim content is the funding,” said Michael Milo, a revert to Islam and the CEO of MuslimKids.TV. “Being a media company in Canada means that a significant part of our budget can come from government and private production incentives lessening the burden for the community to financially support the full budget of a project.”

These incentives are often unavailable to media producers in the U.S. and elsewhere. Canada recognizes that showcasing voices from every background is something uniquely Canadian.

The Storyline

Anyone who has been around Muslim media over the past decade knows that quality is always a concern and that many parents cringe when we hear “Muslim cartoon,” given that quality never seems to match mainstream cartoons. “Time Hoppers” hopes to break this stereotype.

The preliminary materials look amazing, and the project brings together a cast of some of the most well-known Muslim scholars and influencers: world-renowned scholar Dalia Mogahed, Hollywood actor Omar Regan, YouTube star Ali Ardekani (Baba Ali) and world-renowned teacher Sheikh Kamal El Mekki.

Time Hoppers is the story of four gifted children from Vancouver’s Aqli Academy in the year 2050. When Abdullah, Aysha, Khalid and Layla stumble upon the ability to time travel, they are thrust into an adventure along the Silk Road during the Golden Age of Islam — traditionally dated from the 8th century to the 13th century. They must save the great scientists of that era from an evil time traveling alchemist named Fasid.

“It was incredibly important to ensure that the project is directed to children,” said writer and director Flordeliza Dayrit, also a revert. “Muslim children’s media often misses this mark, and [thus] kids aren’t engaged.”

“Time Hoppers” is shaping up to be a hit with both parents and kids. Parents will love the educational and cultural value as our heroes not only explore the Islamic Golden Age, which laid the foundation for many modern scientific and cultural achievements, but they also embody Islam’s values and ethics.

Each episode is rooted in historical accuracy, which is led by two researchers — Munir Shaikh (vice president, Bayan Islamic Graduate School) and Hassam Munir (research fellow, Yaqeen Institute).

Kids will also love the immersive historical worlds and cast of eccentric Muslim scholars and scientists. As Director Dayrit explains, “The project is historical fiction where we tried to bring to life these amazing role models for kids. So, we took some artistic liberties to make the characters as lovable and memorable for children as possible.”

From al-Khwarizmi, the father of algebra, to Fatima al-Fihri, who founded the world’s first university, these personalities are all woven into the narrative. They beautifully celebrate our own role models on the big screen!

The protagonists were also crafted to provide characters they can relate to as heroes. Aysha, the group’s martial artist, is the embodiment of “girl power” who breaks the docile Muslim girl stereotype. Layla, the introspective one, is on a hero’s journey to overcome her shyness and face the challenges of defeating the evil Fasid. Khalid, the “khalulator,” is the group’s brainiac and Abdullah, the street smart one, keeps the humor alive.

The series’ importance extends beyond its educational content. Its ultimate purpose is to instill a sense of pride in Muslim heritage, challenging the mainstream media’s countless stereotypes and providing a platform on which young Muslims can see themselves reflected in positive, influential roles.

“Getting ‘Time Hoppers’ produced is just half the battle,” states Milo. “Distribution and getting the project in front of audiences is the next major challenge. We believe the show will be loved by all children, not just Muslims. We will see if we can overcome the bias in mainstream media that wants to silence Muslim voices, making distribution that much more difficult.”

Telling Our Own Stories

Fortunately, “Time Hoppers” on MuslimKids.TV, works just like Netflix. You pay a monthly access fee, available on smart TVs, mobile apps and the web. MuslimKids.TV is likely one of the community’s most well-kept secrets. The streaming service, which has been around since 2016, boasts over 8,000 videos and is a “must-see” for every Muslim parent.

The team behind “Time Hoppers” is also planning a unique way for kids to watch the series with screening events in movie theaters across North America and the U.K., starting during Fall 2024.

“We know families love the movie theater experience but dread the surprises that show up in children’s movies today,” stated Dayrit. “We want to give parents peace of mind when they take their kids to the movies.”

The “Time Hoppers” team is actively looking for a lead sponsor for the screening tour and hopes to connect with masjids and schools at the grassroots level to hold screening events nationwide.

As the past months have so vividly demonstrated, Muslims must take control of their own voices in the media. Organizations like MuslimKids.TV are the first step toward media independence.

Here are some suggestions to help promote this great media initiative.

• Subscribe to Muslim Kids TV. The collective power of a modest $10 monthly subscription results in a major Muslim media initiative. We hardly think twice about dropping $10 for fancy coffee.

• Launch screening events. Be an advocate, take the initiative and bring this experience to your community. Your kids will love it and thank you!

• Download for FREE . Time Hoppers is also accompanied by an interactive game (RPG), now available to download via web (STEAM), iOS and Android.  Download it today. 

• Share this project. Amplify “Time Hopper” by visiting  time-hoppers.com and engaging with @muslimkids.TV on social media platforms  

Ahmad Khodr (BA ’18, McMaster University) is the marketing lead at Muslim Kids TV.

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By Steven Zhou

Sep/Oct 2024

It might not feel like it, but Quebec’s Muslim community is facing a political crisis that’s striking at the heart of Canadian democracy. 

It hasn’t generated many headlines. Not many cameras or reporters arrived when the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) took their fight against Quebec’s Bill 21 to the nation’s Supreme Court in April this year. 

Stephen Brown’s (CEO, NCCM) impassioned speech at the courthouse’s steps implored Canadians to pay attention that, according to him, “we are facing the greatest challenge to Canadian democracy of our generation.” 

Bill 21 was passed in 2019 by Quebec’s governing Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ), a nationalist, autonomist and conservative provincial political party. This law bans any public servant from wearing religious symbols at work — hijab, kippah, turban, crucifix and other religious attire. That also goes for anyone working in the Quebec public sector: police, teachers, prosecutors and so on.

Don’t want to take off your hijab in public at work? Too bad. Work somewhere else. This forces people of faith to pick between career and religious devotion. Some have lost their jobs; others have moved away. 

Now, those who have had anything resembling a decent civic education will tell you that Canadians can challenge laws they consider unfair and that violate the rights, liberties and principles enshrined in the Constitution. Bill 21 is a prime candidate for getting sued, because it violates Quebecers’ right to religious freedom and expression, something that the 46-year-old Charter guarantees. Thus, Bill 21 shouldn’t be able to withstand a court challenge. 

But that’s where the larger problem starts. CAQ, predicting that Muslims and other civil liberty organizations would work together to dislodge the bill through just such a legal or constitutional challenge, set a deadly precedent for democracy by invoking the Charter’s Notwithstanding Clause [NWC], or Section 33, to shield Bill 21 from being challenged. 

Clauses, Courts and the Constitution

This clause exists as an emergency clause, as a kind of backstop to appease some provinces that were worried about judges (who are unelected) having too much say over the laws they pass. In short, it was never meant to shield bad laws that run roughshod over Canadians’ rights, thus severely undermining democracy’s core. When CAQ invoked Section 33 to protect this clearly unconstitutional law, Canadian society and democracy changed overnight. Canadians are in unfamiliar waters. 

The NCCM and CCLA have found creative ways to bring this issue to the courts, hoping to break CAQ’s precedent-setting move and striking down the bill. So far, these efforts have failed. Judges say that Bill 21 is indeed unconstitutional, but that it’s also protected by the NWC, which allows the national Parliament or a provincial legislature to pass an act that expressly declares that such legislation or any of its provisions “shall operate notwithstanding a provision included in section 2 or sections 7 to 15 [the fundamental freedoms, legal and equality rights provisions] of this Charter.” 

The only other way to repeal the law would be for the Quebec legislature to vote it out in the future. A provincial government will have to gather enough political will to challenge it. Recent polls, such as the January 2022 poll carried out by Leger for the Association for Canadian Studies, have also shown a drop in popular support for the bill (Morgan Lowrie, “Poll suggests support for Bill 21 provision may have dropped in Quebec,”  Jan. 16, 2022, CBC News). 

The political field is still open for any post-CAQ government in Quebec to take on this fight. 

No matter how you look at it, Quebec Muslims have yet again been put under the spotlight, this time in a battle that threatens to permanently undercut democracy. Just two years before Bill 21 became law, a gunman massacred six Muslim worshippers in the Quebec Islamic Cultural Centre. Instead of addressing the factors that have endangered and villainized the province’s Muslims, the community was made into political cannon fodder.

But it must not be forgotten that the problem is now much bigger. It’s a national and possibly constitutional crisis. 

If provinces and politicians can damage our rights to religious freedom by using the NWC to pass unconstitutional laws, then none of our basic rights are safe. We now have a precedent that has knocked down the door for other political actors interested in undercutting our guaranteed rights like free speech, free assembly and free association. 

This is an ugly possibility that many Canadians have yet to seriously examine or reckon with, as they are distracted and their ability to bear bad news is narrowing. Moreover, they haven’t all been paying attention as civil liberties and human rights groups have been toiling silently, day and night, against the Quebec government. 

But it’s time to wake up. Muslims are at a crossroads. Either Muslim Canadians inside and outside of Quebec assemble to organize a final, cogent challenge against the deathblow to democracy in this country, or they all watch the system guaranteeing their religious freedoms fall in silence. 

Steven Zhou is a content writer with The National Council of Canadian Muslims.

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By Nabila Huq 

Sep/Oct 2024

Abdullah Hakim Quick, Ph.D., a historian, social activist and religious leader, writes in “Deeper Roots: Muslims in the Americas and the Caribbean Before Columbus” (Ta-Ha Publishers, 1996) that evidence exists of Indigenous peoples and Muslims interacting long before Columbus arrived. However, historical records of Muslims’ continuous presence in North America are missing. 

The record of their continuous presence in Canada begins during the later part of the 19th century. Many of us may also know that this country’s first recorded Muslims looked like stereotypical settlers (a Scottish revert family). Settler is a loaded word, for it flips between being used as a synonym both for “immigrant” and “colonialist.” Did this family have any intention of being colonialists? We probably don’t have a record of that. 

The First Muslim Immigrants

What we do have is the memoir of Canada’s first Muslim politician. Leaving Lebanon to avoid conscription in the Ottoman Army, he changed his birth name — Bedouin Ferran or Ahmad Ali Ferran — to Peter Baker. In his book, “Memoirs of an Arctic Arab: A Free Trader in the Canadian North: The Years 1907-1927” (Yellowknife Pub. Co., 1976) he detailed his building mainly business relationships with Indigenous peoples. But if we pause to think about contemporary Muslims’ positionality about Indigenous peoples in the 21^st century, we see that Muslim immigrants learned English and/or French, or are studiously learning one of the official languages, and gave little thought to communicating with Indigenous peoples, whereas Baker mastered a conversational ability in several of their languages, realizing that it was up to him to understand his clients’ language. Despite talking of savage Indians and half-breeds somewhat thoughtlessly, he also recounted the warm hospitality he received and his keen interest in Indigenous governance system. 

Unfortunately, Baker ended his memoir without touching upon his life in public office; otherwise, we would learn through his first-hand account what he did for his Indigenous-majority constituents while serving as an elected member of the NWT Council (1964-67; now the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories). 

There are more accounts of early 20th-century Muslims who warmly reflected on their relationship with Indigenous peoples. 

Hilwi Jomha Hamdon, whose husband ran a store in Fort Chipewyan, recounted a hilarious experience to Murray Hogben when her husband decided to invite an Indigenous chief for dinner. The chief had initially declined the offer because he’d assumed her to be “pretty cranky” because of her “narrow eyebrows, and that means among the Indians that you’re not good natured” (“Minarets on the Horizon: Muslim Pioneers in Canada”, Mawenzi House, 2021).

After her husband assured him that this wasn’t the case, he accepted the invitation. This story proves that we can openly discuss negative stereotypes and learn about one another if we keep an open mind. Like Baker, the Hamdon family learned the language of their Indigenous clients and neighbors, and a spontaneous friendship developed among them. The two groups showed no awareness of a latent settler-colonial relationship. This friendship bears no indication of a power relation on either side. 

Such a reciprocal loving relation is also evident in Arab-born Canadian artist Jamelie Hassan’s account of her family’s relation with the neighboring Oneida community. Hassan remembers that while growing up in Southern Ontario during the 1950s, her father would take the family on Sunday drives to Oneida settlements and how its farmers would present them with handmade gifts and produce. 

She states in Ashok Mathur (ed.) et al.’s “Cultivating Canada” that “earlier Arab travelers, at the time of their arrival to Canada in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, did not represent the powers of the British Crown. In fact, these travelers were fleeing from military occupations and the threat of war. Their own histories were likewise shaped by losses due to colonialism” (Jameli Hassan and Miriam Jordan, in “Cultivating Canada: Reconciliation through the Lens of Cultural Diversity”, Aboriginal Healing Foundation, 2011, p. 140).

Are We Following This Tradition?

Ironically, a discourse of immigrants’ complicity in settler colonialism has emerged during this supposedly post-colonial era. Maybe a colonial paradigm shift on the world stage shifted the paradigm between this country’s diasporic immigrant groups and Indigenous peoples. Once identifying with each other as co-colonized by the same colonial powers, diasporic groups can now affiliate themselves with independent nation-states and begin a post-colonial journey, whereas a post-colonial era still has not arrived for Indigenous peoples. 

However, this hypothetical remark doesn’t imply that diasporic and Indigenous groups were on equal terms prior to the onset of this supposed post-colonial phase. Racialized immigrants have almost always been given preferential treatment over Indigenous populations. Exceptions exist, such as the treatment of Japanese Canadians during WWII.        

Muslims need to focus on what their relationship is with Indigenous peoples now. They need to reclaim the relationships established by Baker, the Hamdons and the Hassans, especially now when Muslims stand united in solidarity for Palestinians. 

Palestinians and Indigenous peoples have built a legacy of solidarity at least since the 1970s (“Solidarity Between Palestinian and Indigenous Activists Has Deep Roots,” The Palestinian Chronicle, Feb. 18, 2020.) Examples are Mohawk flags at Palestinian demonstrations and Palestinian flags on Six Nations land, the Niagara Palestinian Association (NPA) distributing flags and scarves to organizers of the Six Nations reclamation in 2006, along with bringing in food and reinforcements (Mike Krebs and Dana M. Olwan. “‘From Jerusalem to the Grand River, Our Struggles Are One’: Challenging Canadian and Israeli Settler Colonialism,” settler colonial studies 2.2 [2012]). 

One of the most recent examples of such solidarity comes from early Nov. 13, 2023, when The Bearhead Sisters from Paul First Nation carried keffiyehs while singing the Canadian national anthem in the Stoney Nakoda Language. This occurred at Roger’s Place at the Edmonton Oilers Night. The scarves were a gift from Issam Saleh, a Palestinian home builder in Edmonton (Richie Assaly, “Why Some Indigenous Advocates and Palestinians Feel They’re ‘Natural Allies,”  The Toronto Star, Nov. 17, 2023). They also wrote on their Facebook page, “We stand with our Indigenous people from all across the world. Tonight, we’d like send our thoughts and prayers to Palestinian Community.”

If Muslims hold the cause of Palestine’s liberation sacred, then they also need to share in the legacy of solidarity that Palestinians have built with Indigenous peoples in Turtle Island. Muslims must revisit this history and recognize that this solidarity is an integral part of Canada’s history. All Muslim community organizations, masjids and individuals need to educate new Muslim immigrants and ensure that all of us join this legacy. 

I mentioned earlier that settler is a loaded term. Ojibwe Anishinaabe writer Patty Krawec tells us, “Being a settler or a colonizer is not something you are; it is something you do… If you are going to stop being a settler and start being kin, that’s where we start. With what you do.” (“Becoming Kin: An Indigenous Call to Unforgetting the Past and Reimagining Our Future”, pp. 178,179, Broadleaf Books, 2022).

We have long stayed as settlers. It’s time we return to being kin.

Nabila Huq is a PhD candidate in Cultural Studies at Queens University, Kingston, ON.

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By Ayse Sule Akinturk

Sep/Oct 2024

Canadian Muslims are often perceived as racialized newcomers who escape oppression and/or poverty elsewhere. However, this perception is highly problematic because it fails to acknowledge the responsibility of non-Muslim forces in many cases of forced migration and overlooks Canadian Muslims’ long histories, diverse experiences and great contributions. This perception continues to persist even though the contributions of Muslims to Canada and world civilization began to be highlighted across the country in 2007 when October was proclaimed as Canadian Islamic History Month.

The first officially recorded Muslims in Canada were James and Agnes Love, a young Scottish couple who migrated to Ontario in 1851. During his archival research, Daood Hassan Hamdani (d. 2019), a well-known economist and statistician, found that the family’s members were recorded as “Mohammadens” in Canada’s first census (1871). For the next few decades, more Muslims came mostly from Ottoman-ruled Syria, Lebanon, Albania and Yugoslavia. Since then, their number has been growing slowly but steadily. 

According to 2021 census data, Islam continues to be the most reported non-Christian religion in Canada: nearly 1.8 million (1 in 20). The same data shows that Muslims increased from 3.2% (2011) to 4.9% (2021) — the highest growth rate among all religious minorities (Statistics Canada: “Focus on Geography Series, 2021 Census of Population” 2021). 

Interestingly, “Statistics Canada” observed a similar trend in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, where religious diversity is the lowest — 82.4% of the population self-identifies as Christian. It also reported that the share of Muslims in the provincial population increased from 0.2% (2011) to 0.8% (2021). The Muslim Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (MANAL) estimates it to be over 7,000 as of 2024. 

This most Eastern province has a well-deserved reputation for being welcoming and friendly, especially toward those much-needed international professionals who come to teach and work in health, water resources, oil, naval engineering and other key sectors. Historically, this acceptance has encouraged the influx of many Muslim professionals and graduate students with their families. While these early Muslims didn’t experience or report any major incident of hatred, the recent rise of Islamophobia elsewhere in Canada has led to a sense of increased vulnerability. 

The 2017 killing of six worshippers in the Quebec Islamic Cultural Centre, the subsequent rise of hate crimes nationwide and, finally, some local incidents of hate speech against immigrants and Muslims have encouraged various university and community collaborations to identify and address the rise of Islamophobia in this province. Such collaborations identified an important gap: Despite their long history and great contributions, Muslims were not systematically represented in the province’s heritage and archives. 

Islamic History Month

Taking the first steps to fill this gap, MANAL advocated for and successfully secured the proclamation of October as Islamic History Month by the City of St. John’s and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2019 and 2022, respectively. During this period, they partnered with the Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador for an archival research project to document the history of the Muslims in the province. Co-led by Dr. Jennifer Selby (professor, religious studies) and Ayse Sule Akinturk (post-doctoral fellow, Department of Religious Studies), the Muslim Narratives and Lives in Newfoundland and Labrador (MNL in NL) community partnership project was launched in 2020 with the support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council’s (SSHRC) Partnership Engage Program. 

The MNL in NL project initially focused on scanning existing archival materials to uncover any Muslim presence since 1925 — the year when Memorial University was established. It also produced new records by collecting the narratives of self-identifying Muslims and their personal archival donations, as well as conducting oral history interviews with 22 individuals who had long-lived experiences in the province. Some of the findings will be shared through a book that, we hope, will be launched in 2025.

In the meantime, a physical and digital archival space is being created at Memorial University’s QEII Library to secure a permanently growing archive to document the past, present and future histories and contributions of this province’s Muslims. 

Before the project’s launch, the late Muhammad Irfan (d.2008) and his wife Razia were assumed to be the province’s first Muslims. According to Memorial University records, Irfan joined the Department of Physics as a faculty member in 1964 and for many years was chairman of its radiation control committee. In addition, he also conducted several Muslim wedding ceremonies. In 1999, seven years after his retirement, he and his family relocated to Ontario. 

The MNL in NL Project revealed a longer than previously assumed history of Muslim faculty at Memorial University. One of the earlier faculty members thus identified was the late Shafiq Alvi (d.2016), who joined its Department of Economics in 1961 to teach public finance. In 1963 he accepted the position of head of Loyola College’s (the future Concordia University) Department of Economics and moved to Montreal. He also volunteered with the nonprofit organization Muslim Community of Quebec as its secretary and treasurer. 

Another interesting finding relates to late Hamdani — he was one of Memorial University’s earliest Muslim graduate students. While living in St. John’s (1964-66) to earn a master’s degree in economics, this active and vocal student held leadership roles on campus and wrote articles for the university magazines and local newspapers. After graduating, he worked in Ontario as an economist for the Federal Department of Finance and for Statistics Canada. A few years before his death, he was interviewed for Murray Hogben’s “Minarets on the Horizon: Muslim Pioneers in Canada” (Mawenzi House Books, 2021). In a brief reference to his time in St. John’s, Hamdani recalled that “there were only two other Muslims,” probably referring to Muhammad and Razia Irfan. 

Masjid Al Noor

Due to the initial low retention rates, it took many years for the province’s Muslims to form a permanently settled and well-organized community. During the late 1960s and ‘70s, they gathered mostly at their homes or rented places on campus and in churches to hold their religious services. In 1981, they established MANAL and launched an extensive fundraising campaign. The construction of Masjid Al Noor began in the mid-1980s, after the Muslim Association of Newfoundland and Labrador purchased Logy Bay Road land in the east end of St. John’s and the required city permits were issued.

The MNL in NL Project highlights the stories of several members who led the mosque construction efforts. One of them was Abdel Salam Mesbah, who moved to St. John’s in 1974 after working for four years in London, ON, as a medical physicist. He played a tremendous role in the care of cancer patients in Newfoundland and Labrador. In 2003, he retired as director of Dr. H. Bliss Murphy Cancer Center’s Medical Physics and Electronics. 

Wasi Ullah, another prominent community member who moved to St. John’s in 1975 as a hydrologist, led MANAL in the mid-1980s and made great contributions to water resources management. Working at the Department of Environment and Lands, he retired in 1997 as the director of water resources. 

Young members also shared in the excitement about Masjid Al Noor. In 1988, Yassir El Tahan was four years old when his parents and others were working hard to finish the mosque’s construction. His father Hussein helped design and fabricate a crescent for the dome and briefly stored this important piece at their family home. 

Masjid Al Noor, which hosted its first congregational prayer during Ramadan 1990, soon became a hub attracting more Muslims to settle in and around St. John’s. Today, it continues serving Muslims from various ethno-cultural and linguistic backgrounds, including the original immigrants’ descendants. Their stories are waiting to be told and archived to inspire future generations. 

Ayse Akinturk is coordinator of Muslim Narratives and Lives in Newfoundland and Labrador Project. 

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By Sanobar Anjum Siddiqui

Sep/Oct 2024

The genocide that Israel has launched against Occupied Palestine brought many like-minded faculty to help promote academic freedom, free expression, and awareness on this long-standing conflict up front and central within the academic discourse at the University of Regina.

The F4P Regina (Faculty for Palestine Canada) chapter was born after Oct. 7, 2023.

F4P is a Canada-wide network of academics dedicated to strengthening the struggle for Palestinian liberation, justice, and equality through the academy. 

The Regina chapter works collegially with similar groups in Saskatchewan and broader Canadian university settings, including student bodies, to spread awareness and bring about positive change. The past months have witnessed multiple activities and engagement sessions to help spread awareness of the ongoing blatant suppression and killing of Palestinians.

In January, a panel session was held at the University of Regina to help explain academic freedom to faculty. David Robinson (executive director, the Canadian Association of University Teachers) spoke about their freedom to speak on matters of public interest and the university’s duty to protect the institution from outside influence. Andrew Stevens (associate professor, Faculty of Business Administration, University of Regina) talked about how faculty used their internal discussions and organized a public campaign a decade ago that resulted in the business school dropping its proposed partnership in public safety with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. 

Batoul Abouelela (co-president, University of Regina Students for Justice in Palestine) and social studies major Adhika Ezra reflected on student experiences on campus and the importance of faculty working to support their walkouts. Holly Funk (editor of the campus newspaper, The Carillon) discussed the pressures and duties of journalists in the West covering the genocide.  

On Feb. 8, there was a film screening of “Israelism” on campus. The 2023 movie is about two young American Jews brought up to love Israel unconditionally who undergo drastic life changes when they see how brutally Israel treats Palestinians. As a result, they join a group of young American Jews who are challenging the establishment to reinterpret Judaism’s connection to Israel, thereby exposing a growing generational gap over what it means to be a modern Jew. We had a short group discussion. One Jewish campus community member who attended suggested the film was very accurate and that they wanted to screen it at their synagogue.

On March 21, a panel session on four things you need to know to understand the war on Gaza was held. Panelists Ahlam Muhtaseb (professor, media studies; graduate coordinator, Department of Communication Studies, California State University, San Bernardino), Mylan Tootoosis (Nehiyawpwat doctoral student, University of Saskatchewan), Ahmad Al-Dissi (Palestinian-Canadian professor of veterinary medicine, University of Saskatchewan) and Omar Hafez (Palestinian student, College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan). The well-attended session and ensuing live discussion helped answer the difficult questions posed by the audience. Ahmad Al-Dissi reflected on having only met Jewish people (other than soldiers) when he moved to Canada.

Student for Justice in Palestine (SJP) conducted multiple activities throughout the fall and winter semesters to help advocate for Palestinians’ lives. Activities included walkouts in support of Gaza, Sudan and Congo along with sit-ins at the New Democratic Party’s (NDP) office, meeting with government representatives, holding high school Palestinian workshops, reading testaments and martyrs’ last words, participating in silent protests, and holding bus rallies. 

In tandem, the Student Union passed a motion to call on “college and university administrators to immediately cut any investments and ties with weapons manufacturers and other corporations that fund genocide in Gaza.” The F4P Regina chapter and the SJP spoke to University president Jeff Keshen and other administrators, and they agreed to see what they could do to disclose their investments’ fund names. Once this list is disclosed, SJP and F4P will begin advocating that the university disinvest from Israeli companies that promote the genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.

In another initiative, a statement by the F4P Canada Regina Chapter was drafted and submitted to Dianne Ford (vice president of administration, University of Regina) requesting that the decision to host and provide Starbucks space on campus from fall 2024 be reversed. A newspaper article was published, and much online support was garnered from students, faculty and the public who disapprove of this decision.

Biweekly marches for Palestine continue to be launched to help focus attention on the ongoing Genocide by live streaming of the bombs being dropped and the AI-generated killing machine that treat Palestinian infants, babies, children, men, and women the same weigh heavily on humanity’s soul. This small attempt seeks to help tilt the balance and stop The Genocide.

Sanobar A. Siddiqui, Ed.D., CMA (USA), is assistant professor of accounting (TT) and CPA research scholar (Paul J. Hill School of Business; Faculty of Business Administration, University of Regina).

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