Somali Canadian Mahdi Hassan studies Biomedical Sciences at the University of Ottawa. He plans to pursue a career in pediatric medicine. In his teens, he was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.
An unprecedented number of Muslim Canadians ran in the 2015 Federal Election. With the Liberal surge nationally, particularly in the Greater Toronto Area, several of them won, including Canada's first Somali Canadian MP Ahmed Hussen and Canada's first Afghan Canadian MP Maryam Monsef. The majority of Muslim Canadians who will be coming to Parliament are newcomers to politics with the exception of Omar Alghabra and Yasmin Ratansi who were previously Liberal MPs. So far, we have confirmed 11 Muslim Canadian Candidates in total, the largest number in Canadian history. 10 were elected with the Liberal Party and 1 with the Conservative Party.
Please note that this may not be a complete list. If you know of any other Muslim Canadians who won this election please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Spoken Word poet Nasim Asgari recently successfully crowdfunded to raise enough money to publish her first book of poetry before her 18th birthday.
The Muslim Association of Canada (MAC) Youth Centre is holding Eid Prayer and an all day Eid Celebration on Thursday, September 24th from 10 am to 6pm at 1085 Grenon Avenue.
Sudanese Canadian Spoken Word poet Roua Aljied, 19, has become well-known in Ottawa as an artist willing to tackle controversial topics such as the rights of Palestinians during last year’s Gaza War with her poem “We are Still Here” to challenging rape culture with her poem “Looking Over Her Shoulder” which was performed at Ottawa City Hall for the launch of last year’s 16 Days Against Gender Violence.
Dr. Habib Khoury, 42, is a Palestinian Canadian practicing dentistry at Centrum Dental Care in Kanata. Last year, he came up with the idea of finding an innovative way to raise funds for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA)’s Community Mental Health Program. The program supports Palestinians, particularly children, who are coping with mental health issues such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Roya Shams, 20, has received wide spread attention in Canadian media since she was supported to come to Canada from Afghanistan by Michael Cooke and Paul Watson of the Toronto Star after the assassination her father, a police officer and outspoken voice for women’s equality. Roya’s life was in danger because she was also a vocal advocate for women’s education. Since coming to Canada, it has not been safe for her to return to Kandahar to see her family.
Check out Muslim Canadians Who Won in the 2015 Federal Election.
Muslim Link is quite excited about the number of Muslim Canadians running in this federal election.
Camp Inspyred is back for another year, offering young Muslim women from Ottawa a unique camping experience. Registration for the Camp is currently full but fundraising is ongoing in order to ensure that campers who require financial assistance to attend the camp can be covered. Muslim Link interviewed the Camp Inspyred team about their vision, their fundraising, and their plans to further develop their initiative in the future.
So much has been written about the recent Senate Report , particularly the suggestion of “certifying imams”. The “Certifying Imams” controversy comes from Recommendation 9 of the Senate Report which states that “The federal government work with the provinces and the Muslim communities to investigate the options that are available for the training and certification of imams in Canada.”