Reflections

A collection of 386 posts

Reflections Featured

CMAJ disgraces itself by publishing Islamophobic drivel

By Dr. Sohail Gandhi You know, I really wonder if physicians organizations that claim to “support their members” really understand what that phrase means. Time and time again we’ve seen physicians representative groups fail their members. Now we have the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) allow an attack on

Reflections

Omicron reveals need to close global vaccine gap

By Sara Hildebrand The Love My Neighbour movement, a collaboration of 35 faith communities and organizations, strongly agrees with the recent Dec. 13 article in The Hill Times, “‘Inevitable’ rise of Omicron shows ‘failed approach’ to ending pandemic, say experts.” Billions of global neighbours in low- and middle-income countries have

Reflections

Nobel winner Abdulrazak Gurnah ‘writing cannot be just about battling and polemics’

Abdulrazak Gurnah delivered his Nobel Prize lecture in literature on 7 December 2021. The following is the text of his speech. Writing Writing has always been a pleasure. Even as a boy at school I looked forward to the class set aside for writing a story, or whatever our teachers

Reflections Featured

The Uyghur genocide: Why aren’t we doing more?

By Reverend Christopher White [The speech I delivered on November 23, 2021 in Ottawa on Parliament Hill regarding the Uyghur genocide]. I want to first thank Mehmet Tohti of the Uyghur Rights Advocacy project for the invitation to speak today. Salaam Alaikum, I bring you greetings both from my congregation,

Reflections Featured

20 years after 9/11: Looking back at the Canadian Muslim Community

Twenty years ago in the weeks following the 9/11 terrorist attack in the U.S., a tabloid style, monthly newspaper catering to the Toronto Muslim community was launched with its inaugural edition released on October 19, 2011. The early issues of the newspaper captured the sentiments and concerns of

Reflections

A Canadian Muslim Perspective on Pope Francis’ Encyclical, Fratelli Tutti

By Muneeb Nasir Fratelli Tutti [http://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20201003_enciclica-fratelli-tutti.html] ,  the latest encyclical of Pope Francis, is a passionate call to the higher moral ideal of fraternity to dispel the ‘dark clouds’ hanging over the world. Pope Francis reminds us of the

IQRA.ca

Muslim Torontonians Forge a Canadian Muslim Identity

By Muneeb Nasir — Since the turn of the 21st century, Toronto’s dynamic Muslim community has spawned homegrown organizations committed to Muslim participation and integration into mainstream society — Toronto’s Muslim community has been a leader in North America when it comes to forging an integrated Muslim identity. Muslim Torontonians

Reflections Featured

Why is it Critical for Canadian Muslims to get the COVID-19 Vaccine

STATEMENT FROM: Canadian Muslim COVID-19 Task Force December 17, 2020 | Jumada Al-Awwal 2, 1442 AH Bismillah hirRahman nirRaheem In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.Abundant Peace, Blessings and Salutations upon the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ Introduction to Vaccines Over the last 200 years, vaccines have eliminated

Islam Canada

Practicing Islam in the age of COVID-19

By Muneeb Nasir Canadian Muslims, as all Muslims throughout the world, are grappling with the catastrophic changes on their personal as well as their religious life brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Mosques, Islamic Centres and religious schools have been closed since mid-March and all communal services have been suspended.

IQRA.ca

Restoring the true ‘Spirit of Fasting’ During the Pandemic

By Muneeb Nasir We could be experiencing our most significant Ramadan and greatest Ramadan experience ever in our life. The holy month, in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, could be the great spiritual reset many of us have longed for during previous Ramadans but have never quite achieved. This

Muslims in Canada

Canadian Muslim Community Members Stand with the Wet’suwet’en Nation

We, the undersigned members of the Muslim community, wish to express our solidarity and support for the Hereditary Chiefs of the Wet’suwet’en Nation and the Indigenous nations across the continent who are supporting them. We urge the federal and BC governments, the RCMP, and the Coastal GasLink Pipeline

Canadian Muslims

We have much to learn about Indigenous Peoples

By Muneeb Nasir (Remarks by Muneeb Nasir, President of the Olive Tree Foundation, at program entitled, ‘Indigenous And Muslim Traditional Healing Practices In A Modern Context’ on November 14 2019, at Victoria College, University of Toronto). The Olive Tree Foundation is pleased to be a sponsor of tonight’s program

Canadian Muslims

Islamic Foundation of Toronto: A Tribute & Lessons Learnt From 50 Years

By Muneeb Nasir* [Keynote address delivered at Islamic Foundation of Toronto 50th Anniversary Celebration on Sunday, September 22, 2019] Over the past 50 years, all of you and your families have given of yourselves and dedicated your time, energies and resources in service to the Islamic Foundation. May Allah reward

Canadian Muslims

A Ramadan day in the life of a charity worker

By Hassam Munir When you work for a Muslim charity and it’s Ramadan, it can be tough to figure out when your day begins and when it ends. For simplicity’s sake, let’s start at the pre-dawn meal. While most Canadians are getting their beauty sleep by 3

Canadian Muslims

People could all do with a dose of Ramadan

By Muneeb Nasir Fasting is a big commitment and it is not quite that easy for those who are not initiated into the art of fasting. Ramadan is a month of abrupt changes. For a month, the fasting person takes a break from their usual lives to return to meaning

Canadian Muslims

Why I think Ontario needs a Day of Remembrance and Action on Islamophobia

By Sanaa Ali-Mohammed It’s been a little over two years since the terrorist attack on the Centre Culturel Islamique de Québec. Since then, many Muslim communities have been making efforts to heal. Healing has been hindered by the fact that, across Ontario, and globally, it feels like our communities

Beth Sholom Congregation

Fellowship of the Rings

By Farhad Khadim “Terror in a Pittsburgh Synagogue. Multiple fatalities. Shooter may be among the dead.” The words came crashing through my iPhone screen leaving a sense of dread that would consume me for the next few hours. How could it happen again? Were there fatalities? How many? Who did

Basic Income

Academics and activists from across the globe issue open letter to Ontario Government on Basic Income

We, collectively, represent the principal investigators, research teams and stakeholder groups behind several distinct basic income experiments underway in Finland, Scotland, the Netherlands, the USA, Spain, Kenya and India. We profoundly regret that you chose to cancel the Ontario Basic Income Guarantee Experiment prematurely. Each of our experimental designs is

CAM-D

Dirty Socks or Wheelchairs, What Belongs in the Mosque?

By Rabia Khedr CEO DEEN Support Services [Disability Empowerment Equaality Network] [http://www.deensupportservices.ca] It is 2018, 25 years after Rafia founded ERDCO (Ethno-Racial People with Disabilities Coalition of Ontario), an organization dedicated to addressing barriers faced by racialized people with disabilities. In March, in the week in which

Canadian Muslims

Acknowledging the Indigenous land we have settled on

By Muneeb Nasir Seeking forgiveness and repentance are essential practices of a believer in God. The principles and pre-requisites for repentance that we practice to redress violations of the rights of God and against someone else are important principles. These principles that include truth telling (sincerely acknowledging wrongdoings and having

Canadian Muslims

Is anyone out there?

By Muneeb Nasir I have not been eating and drinking during the daylight hours this past week  – not to punish myself unnecessarily – but, because in my religion, Islam, fasting in the month of Ramadan has been prescribed by God as one of the fundamental pillars of the faith so that

Canadian Council of Imams

Canadian Council of Imams issue advisory to Imams about sermons

The Canadian Council of Imams has issued an advisory to Imams concerning the Friday sermon and the religious services. “The Canadian Council of Imams (CCI) hereby reminds all congregation leaders and imams, at all facilities of worship, whether permanent or temporary, to uphold the integrity of our faith and responsibility

Amira Elghawaby

Islamophobia is a threat to us all, Canada’s silent majority must speak up

By Amira Elghawaby, National Council of Canadian Muslims It has been a difficult couple of weeks. Just as we have had to come to grips with the so-called Muslim ban in the United States and all its actual and potential implications, Canadian Muslims have also had to come to terms

Canadian Muslims

OPEN LETTER TO MINISTER RE: Alleged Islamophobia and anti-black racism at York Region District School Board

October 31, 2016 SENT VIA EMAIL Honourable Mitzie Hunter Minister of Education Ministry of Education 22nd Floor, Mowat Block 900 Bay Street Toronto, Ontario M7A 1L2 Email: mhunter.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org; — and — Honourable Indira Naidoo-Harris Associate Minister of Education Ministry of Education 22nd Floor, Mowat Block 900 Bay

Canadian Muslims

National security framework needs major overhaul

By Faisal Kutty Over the next few weeks, rights groups, lawyers, activists, experts and concerned individuals will all weigh in on how to achieve a National Security framework upholding both security and rights. The problems with the existing framework are too many to canvass here, but there are a few