Junior/Intermediate 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, actually travelled longer distances than Marco? Ibn Batutta 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.

Malcolm X, also known as El-Hajj al-Malik el-Shabaaz, was an Black American Muslim who was one of the greatest champions for American civil rights in the 1960s. He encouraged Black people in the west to be proud of who they are. You can learn more about Malcolm X's evolution as a person and his deep connection to the principles of justice, education, and tolerance within the context of Islam by reading The Autobiography of Malcolm X co-authored with Alex Haley.

October is Islamic Heritage Month! Did you know that a hadith is a saying of the Prophet Muhammad and is an important 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 Muslim.  Many mosques invite the public to visit and learn more about Islam in general. Contact a mosque near you to schedule a visit!

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”.

“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.

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 was pretty far from the Muslim world.

Whether you know it or not, some current music artists are also Muslim: the list includes Lupe Fiasco, Mos Def, T-Pain, Busta Rhymes, Akon, Cat Stevens and Yuna.  Can you think of some other Muslim musicians? 

Beauty has always been an integral part of Islamic culture. Because of this, developments in the visual arts such as architecture, calligraphy, painting, textiles and metalwork, have always been very important and encouraged in Islamic culture. The Alhambra Mosque from the era of Muslim Spain is one of the most exquisite examples of Muslim architecture. It is one of Spain's most visited tourist attractions.

Although Muslims are often associated with the Arab world, more than 85% of Muslims are non-Arab. From the eastern provinces of China to the western coast of Africa in Senegal, to the European country of Albania, Muslims live among virtually all ethnic groups, nationalities, and countries. The largest populations of Muslims are in Indonesia and India.

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, a cultural center 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. 6

Did you know that while the Chinese invented paper sometime before the 2nd century BCE, Muslims were the first to mass-produce paper on an intercontinental scale, developing a culture dependent on its abundance? As the price of paper dropped, literacy rose and booksellers and libraries became integral parts of many Islamic cities.7

Fatima al-Fihri, in the year 859 C.E., was a wealthy Muslim woman who donated her money to found the world's oldest library and university in Fez, Morocco. Al-Qarawiyyin University is still in use today, and houses 4000 manuscripts and a 9th century Qur'an.

Believe it or not, many of the modern instruments surgeons use today are of exactly the same design as those invented in the 10th century by a Muslim surgeon named al-Zahrawi from Spain.

Women were active members of the military since the early days of Islam in the 7th century. Women such as Khawlah bin Azwar, Nusaybah and Sumayyah fought alongside men in important battles.

The House of Wisdom in Baghdad, was a major intellectual learning centre from the 9th to 13th century. Scholars and thinkers from every religion would gather to study and translate into Arabic, books from vast disciplines of philosophy, math, science and literature. By the mid 9th century the House of Wisdom had the largest selection of books in the world.11

Do you know what Besa is? It is a Muslim Albanian cultural concept which means “faith”, “hospitable”, or “word of honour”. 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.12

Noor-un-Nisa Inayat Khan was 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, were 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.