One-on-One with DEEN CEO Rabia Khedr
By Sundus Abrar
Jan/Feb 25
The Canadian government pledged to create a barrier-free Canada by 2040. Toward this end, Canada has passed multiple legislative acts aimed at supporting Canadians with disabilities including the Accessible Canada Act (ACA) in 2019 and the Canada Disability Benefit Act (CDB Act) in 2023. For its part, the CBD Act establishes a framework for an annual, income-tested benefit for eligible working-age people with disabilities living within the Canadian provinces.
Muslim Canadians are doing their part toward helping those with disabilities, too. An example of these efforts is the Muneeba Centre which, some would say, is tucked away in plain sight. “Everybody misses it the first time,” said Rabia Khedr, CEO of the Disability Empowerment Equality Network (DEEN). DEEN is a fully registered charity that evolved from the Canadian Association of Muslims with Disabilities.
The Muneeba Centre opened in 2016 after the property underwent a renovation to make the location accessible. Khedr (BA, University of Toronto, MA, York University), is one of four siblings living with a disability, and has long been involved in Canada’s mainstream disability rights. She quickly realized that more needed to be done for this population within the Muslim community.
“There’s this common misconception that if you live in Canada, you are taken care of by the government,” said Khedr.
In fact, benefit funding for Canadians with disabilities is limited, while the services that are offered are often not mindful of the culturally sensitive requirements across Canada’s diverse communities. For instance, same gender support workers are not guaranteed to Muslims with disabilities living in care facilities. During a visit to the Muneeba Centre in Mississauga, Ontario this summer, I saw a focused service and a determined energy even on a quiet Friday afternoon. I appreciated the artwork created by program attendees that was proudly displayed on the walls which included handmade cards neatly stacked on a folding table. There was also a detailed schedule of activities and pictures of past cooking programs pinned on the kitchen bulletin board. While I perused the artwork, the DEEN staff took turns completing training and attending Jummah prayer while ensuring the care of individuals who participated in programming activities in the facility’s backyard.
A Subset Minority
Muslims with disabilities experience discrimination that is further amplified given that they constitute a subset minority. Khedr, who lives with blindness, recounts taking her brother to urgent care a trying situation which quickly became even more challenging given that her brother is limited in expressing his needs. According to Khedr, their attempt to seek medical attention was further aggravated by a nurse’s dismissive approach in ensuring accessibility. Racial bias became clear as she attempted to educate the nurse about her brother and family’s circumstances and was met with patronizing disdain. Khedr recognized that there was a gap in the healthcare system for minorities with disabilities that needed to be addressed. Yet despite the severe shortcomings she experienced with her brother, she broached the incident as an opportunity for education and tactfully reported the interaction: “I didn’t want her to lose her job, I just wanted for her and others to be informed about how to accommodate individuals with disabilities,” said Khedr.
Similarly, when approaching the Muslim community, Khedr’s initial focus was on education. This led her to engaging a khutbah campaign highlighting the concerns and needs of those with disabilities and their families: “Disability in the community is an invisible problem – if we don’t see people with disabilities there’s often this assumption that well there must not be any,” said Khedr. Concerns of people with disabilities are often overlooked as lack of access often translates into lack of interaction with the broader community. Khedr also shared her personal experience with this communal invisibility as her own family retracted from attending the local mosque in Mississauga after a deeply impactful event during her childhood: “My brothers, who have developmental disabilities, made involuntary sounds. The imam announced, “Sisters if you can’t keep your kids quiet, then keep them at home.” My mother took that literally and we didn’t go back for years until my grandfather’s janazah (funeral),” said Khedr.
Khedr’s focus shifted in the early 2000’s when she realized her shared concerns with other members of the community in similar circumstances. She discovered other community members who either had a disability themselves or had family members with special needs. Khedr’s family originates from a small village in Pakistan and she came to Canada as a four-year old. She acknowledges her circumstances would have been different if her family had stayed in Pakistan: “I would have had a very different life living there, probably would have been washing someone else dishes,” she said. However, relatively better circumstances don’t mean that enough is being done to support people with disabilities in Canada. Thus, Khedr and her peers started actively working to address their needs. And while DEEN has a focus on addressing the specific cultural and religious needs of disabled members of the Muslim community, they welcome people belonging to other faiths as well.
Initially DEEN planned to rely on area mosques and other community spaces to offer programming, but a lack of consistency in securing these spaces led to establishing the Muneeba Centre. In addition to their Mississauga center, DEEN also operates chapters in Scarborough and Ottawa and is currently striving towards raising funds for a facility in Scarborough.
People with disabilities and their caregivers face a severe dropin support and opportunities to socialize once they age out of the education system at the age of 21. DEEN is dedicated to filling this gap by supporting adults with disabilities: “It’s not healthy for adults to be around their parents all the time, and its hard on the parents too,” said Khedr. The Muneeba Centre is crucial in conducting DEEN’s ongoing work which consists of several daily, weekly, or biweekly programs. DEEN also hosts special events and webinars to address relevant topics such as filing taxes for disabled adults. DEEN’s programming offer respite to adults with disabilities by creating opportunities for them to socialize, learn essential skills, and interact with other individuals outside their family: “The biggest fear parents have is who is going to look after my child when I am no longer able to,” said Khedr. These programs aim to overcome the isolation, frustrations, and worries of families whose membership includes adults living with disabilities.
DEEN has steadily grown in their ability to meet the needs of adults with disabilities by employing a wide range of thoughtful services. But these services are not entirely visible on social media platforms. This is by design. Khedr’s determined patience in educating the Muslim community would not be successful without careful consideration of the hopes and expectations of those that seek support in DEEN: “I am interested in helping people and serving others. I want to be sure that we can meet the needs of people. We don’t want to get their hopes up,” she said. Khedr has been tactful and shared DEEN’s efforts cautiously on social media to avoid any potentially discouraging scenarios so that families and caregivers are protected from potential disappointment.
Building Capacity
Muslim immigrants have realized tremendous potential and undergone financial growth in Canada, yet there is a lack of sustained focus in addressing the needs of subset minorities within that community. As a result, DEEN’s focus has been to build and maintain trust by consistently aligning services with the expectations of those that seek support: “Everybody jumps on a headline cause, but we need to build capacity by collaborating on a big picture plan,” explained Khedr.
“We don’t build capacity. We build these schools and mosques that only meet the needs of a very specific ethnic group or a very small part of the community. Disabled people are not a priority. No one is willing to commit substantially and even maintaining visibility requires significant resources.”
All of DEEN’s staff and board members either have a disability themselves or have family members with disabilities: “What makes us unique is this is personal to us,” said Khedr. This attachment to and understanding of the cause has certainly contributed to the consistency with which DEEN has continued to grow and serve. Armed with her trademark patience, Khedr is undeterred and is optimistically moving forward: “The big dream is respite residential services, an Islamic model of long-term care for folks with disabilities.” Currently Muslims with disabled family members in respite care, a short-term care that provides temporary relief for caregivers, are not given the assurance that their loved ones will receive care that aligns with Islamic values. For instance, caregivers tending to personal and hygiene needs may be from the opposite gender.
The challenge that DEEN faces is sustaining funds and visibility. While it has received some government grant funding, it’s not enough. Khedr urges consistent collaboration from other organizations to invest in DEEN to sustain and grow the services to continue offering care and programming which is mindful of Islamic values.
Khedr holds an acclaimed position in her field. “I work in a space I created.” In addition to being a mother of four and CEO of DEEN, she currently also serves as National Director of Disability with Poverty. Previously she was a Commissioner with the Ontario Human Rights Commission. She has also been awarded Daniel J Hill Human Rights Award for distinguished service. She is not hesitant in persistently advocating for disability rights and support: “I always say I can’t see any dirty looks people may give, so I will keep at it.”
To learn more about DEEN Support Services and donate, visit: https://deensupportservices.ca
Sundus Abrar is a freelance writer.