Intermediate/Senior Announcements

 October is Islamic Heritage Month! Did you know that Muslims lived in this land we now call Canada even before Confederation, in 1867? The first Muslims recorded were Agnes and James Love, immigrants from Scotland. James Jr., born in 1854, was the first Muslim born in Ontario. The first Canadian Census in 1871 recorded the presence of 13 Muslims.

A Muslim person is somebody who follows the religion of Islam. Muslim people live in many different countries around the world. They also speak many different languages. But, whenever one Muslim person greets another Muslim, they say “As-salamu alaykum”.  This is an Arabic phrase that means “Peace be upon you”.

Tim Hortons, or Starbucks? Do you like to start your day, like millions of humans around the globe, with a cup of coffee? The word coffee has its roots in different languages, including Arabic. For example, “qahwah” was a popular drink made by the Arab people of Yemen around the 10th century. Coffee was discovered and used by Muslims, as an aid to stay up at night to pray. Through trade, Europe was introduced to coffee and started using it around the 16th century. 

You may have already heard about the the famous explorer Marco Polo, but did you know that Ibn Battuta, another famous explorer from the Arab world, that actually travelled longer distances than Marco? He left his home at the age of 21 to perform the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca and didn't return for 30 years! His travels, which he wrote about, took him all over the world: from the Middle East to South Asia, all the way to China - and this was all done before cars and planes! 

October is Islamic Heritage Month! Did you know that the first mosque in Canada was built in Edmonton, Alberta in 1938, and is now seen as a historical building, which currently serves a Muslim community of over 60,000 people.

Muslim professional athletes in the 21st century are not only changing the way their respective sport is played, but have also changed the way in which their faith and culture is viewed throughout the world. This includes household names like Nazim Kadri, Kyrie Irving, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Paul Pogba, and Canadian Olympic medalist, Mohammed Ahmed, who are literal “game-changers”.  

October is Islamic Heritage Month! Did you know that a hadith is a saying of the Prophet Muhammad and is an imporant aspect of Islamic oral tradition. One well known saying of the Prophet Muhammad is, “Be merciful to others, and you will receive mercy. Forgive others, and God will forgive you." This hadith is one of many that  illustrates the importance of kindness, patience, and tolerance in Islam towards all people of different backgrounds. It emphasizes the idea that good character and respectful behavior are essential aspects of a Muslim's life.

October is Islamic Heritage Month! Did you know that you can visit a mosque in Canada? Currently, every province and territory has a notable Muslim community, with the largest existing in the GTA with almost 10% of the population identifying as Muslims.  Many mosques invite the public to visit and learn more about Islam in general. Contact a mosque near you to schedule a visit!

You may enjoy the poems of the famous Muslim poet and scholar Rumi. Rumi was from Iran and born over 800 years ago. Did you know that Rumi is the most read poet in North America? One of his famous quotes is, “Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”

Timbuktu is not a make-believe place. It is a city located in the West African country of Mali, and is home to one of the world's oldest universities, established in the 13th century! This centre of Islamic learning educated about 25 000 students! Institutions like this encourage their students to pursue knowledge without limits. Students were told to “travel to seek knowledge even if it is in China”, which in those days, without cars and planes, was pretty far from the Muslim world. 

The famous Muslim, Ibn al-Haytham (also known as Alhazen).  This brilliant man formulated the scientific method and has been referred to as “the world's first true scientist.” He is also often regarded as the first theoretical physicist. Additionally, he developed what is called celestial mechanics, which lead to the eventual work of Europeans such as Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler and Newton.

“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee,” are famous words of the world famous heavyweight boxing champion and Olympic champion-Muhammad Ali. He was born Cassius Clay, and converted to Islam in 1965. Muhammad Ali opposed the United States' war in Vietnam. He opposed the war and the killing of innocent people, and for these beliefs he was stripped of his titles and lost millions of dollars along with his reputation. However, after this setback, he not only regained the title stripped from him but gained even more worldwide respect as a role model and activist. 

Did you know that our green thumb has roots in Islamic culture from India to Spain? In the early 8th century, the art of planting ornate gardens with flowers such as irises, carnations and tulips spread to Europe and beyond. 

 According to the Ontario Human Rights Commission's Policy on Preventing Discrimination Based on Creed, “Islamophobia includes racism, stereotypes, prejudice, fear or acts of hostility directed towards individual Muslims or followers of Islam in general. In addition to individual acts of intolerance and racial profiling, Islamophobia can lead to viewing and treating Muslims as a greater security threat on an institutional, systemic and societal level”. TDSB staff and students take a stand against Islamophobia through policy, education, and advocacy.

Muslim women have had the right to vote since the beginning of Islam in the 7th century.  Female politicians have been heads of state, and well represented in government and political positions in many Muslim-majority countries. In fact, several Islamic countries have also had female heads of state, including Pakistan, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Turkey.

Do you know who won UK's most prestigious architectural prize in both 2010, and 2011? It was a Muslim woman! Her name is Zaha Hadid, she was born in Iraq and is one of the most famous architects of the United Kingdom. She is the founder of the Zaha Hadid Architects British International Company and has designed projects such as an opera house in China, cultural centre in Azerbaijan and the London Aquatics Centre for the Olympics.

October is Islamic Heritage Month! Did you know that  in the year 872 in Cairo, Egypt, the Ahmad ibn Tulun Hospital was created and equipped with an range of functions. Like other  hospitals in the Muslim world that soon followed, Tulun Hospital was open to both men and women of all ages, religions and economic status. Tulun Hospiteal was also the earliest hospital to give care to people with mental illness. 

The Aga Khan Museum in Toronto is a great architectural addition to the Toronto art scene. It holds stunning Islamic artifacts from around the world. The Aga Khan, leader of 15 million Ismaili Muslims worldwide, became an honorary Canadian citizen in 2009. The Aga Khan is involved in humanitarian and development projects in Asia and Africa.

Ibn Khaldun is an important Muslim thinker and philosopher in history. He is recognized as one of the greatest historians, and the founder of sociological sciences in the 14th and 15th centuries. Khaldun created one of the earliest nonreligious philosophies. He also paved the way for our expectations of modern-day presidents and prime ministers by creating a framework for evaluating “effective rulers”. 

Did you know that many things you use today have come from Islamic civilizations or Muslim inventors? Just a few examples include the discovery of citric acid, arabesque architecture, the vertical-axle windmill, teaching hospitals, marching bands, the guitar, the lute, the water pipe (hookah or shisha), early attempts at gliding, algebra, the pinhole camera, the laws of refraction, coffee, and so much more!

October is Islamic Heritage Month! Did you know that  Aasif Mandvi, Azhar Usman, Mo Amer, Dave Chapelle, Hasan Minhaj, Dean Obeidallah and Maysoon Zayid are some of the funniest Muslim comedians? Check out even more Muslim comedians who are combatting ignorance with laughter on social media.

October is Islamic Heritage Month! Did you know that Jabir Ibn Hayyan transformed alchemy into chemistry through distillation, or separating liquids through differences in their boiling points. In addition to developing the processes of crystallization, evaporation and filtration, he also discovered sulphuric and nitric acids. Jabir Ibn Hayyan is truly the founder of modern-day chemistry.

Did you ever wonder where the term “Chair” (meaning the head) comes from when talking about colleges or universities? In the Islamic tradition, the teacher would sit on a CHAIR and the students would sit on the ground. This act of having the teacher on a CHAIR, and the students in a lower position, is a way of honouring those who possess and transmit knowledge.

Noor-un-Nisa Inayat Khan was a World War II hero, and was awarded the George Cross, the highest civilian decoration in the United Kingdom. She was a Special Agent for the Allied forces during the Second World War, and became the first female radio operator to be sent from Britain into German occupied France to aid the French Resistance. Although all of the other operators were captured by the Nazis, Noor Inayat Khan refused to return to the United Kingdom and continued to transmit messages even though she was the most wanted British Agent in Paris. However, she was captured and sent to Dachau Concentration Camp where she, along with three other agents, was executed. Her life story is the subject of the film Enemy of the Reich: the Noor Inayat Khan Story.

During World War II, the Paris Mosque played an important part in the French Resistance against the Nazis in France. Si Kaddour Benghabrit, the founder and rector of the Mosque, along with some of his congregants helped many Jews escape the Holocaust by hiding them in the underground caverns of the Mosque, and by providing them with fake certificates of Muslim identity. This has been characterized as the “forgotten resistance” but there are many who have shared stories of their families who were saved by Mr. Bengahbrit and his community.

With Remembrance Day memorials just weeks away, did you know that during World War I there were 2.5 million Muslims that fought in the war that came from regions such as the Russian Empire, South Asia, North Africa, and Somalia. These soldiers are also part of the honoured dead that we remember on November 11th.

Do you know what Besa is? It is a Muslim Albanian cultural concept, which means “faith”, “hospitable”, or “word of honor”. During World War II, Albanians saved 800 to 2000 Jews from Nazi persecution. Rather than hiding the Jewish people in attics or the woods, like in France, the Netherlands and other European countries, Albanians gave them clothes, Albanian names, and treated them as part of the family so they could live in the open during World War II. This concept of besa is an important part of Albanian culture. 

The Muslim man known in the West as Abulcasis (Al-Zahrawi) wrote a medical encyclopedia which included a section titled “On Surgery”. In his writings he illustrated over two hundred different surgical tools which laid the foundations for surgery in Europe.