WhatFinger


Islam, Canada's fastest growing religion

To a Canadian Muslim



Most Canadian Muslims [i.e. followers of Islam] are people who were raised Muslim. There are also small numbers of converts to Islam from other religions. As with immigrants in general, Muslim immigrants have come to Canada for a variety of reasons.

Support Canada Free Press


The reason I give you these text accounts? Because of what I read in the Winnipeg Free Press today. [url=http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/]http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/[/url]

'Proud to be in Winnipeg'

Manitoba Muslims challenge negative stereotypes The story unfolds about how a young Muslim family is trying to prove that Islam is not satanic or a ragging war machine, but is rather a peaceful loving religion, A Model of love and decency, in our society. Difficult job I would say. Considering all the bad media attention on the teachings of Islam lately. That Honor killing in Toronto of that young Muslim girl, Aqsa Parvez, is such a sad reality of what Islam teaches, and we are now seeing the fruits of these teachings not only here in Canada but around the world. Sadly there are quite probably many Muslims wanting to leave Islam to become a Christian, but wont in fear of losing their families, DEATH for apostasy is enforced in many Mosques here in Canada. Thank God that Mr. Miller saved the day here in Ontario when some Muslim organizations tried to get permission to establish the Sharia Law in Canada. I tell you , I truly believe we might never have known this young lady who tried to stand up against the teachings of Islam. I pray that Jesus is holding you in His Arms right now Miss Aqsa Parvez. The campaign is meant to counter the negative stereotyping of Muslims since Sept. 11, 2001, says Aldis. This type of Islamic terror has been going on in the world well before 9/11. Muhammad himself was a terrorist, in fact according to Islamic history Muhammad and his men used to attack caravans kill innocent non Muslim men rape their wife’s and then take everything they could carry, sounds a lot like what I have been hearing from some Christian refugees living here in Canada, now that they have escaped their Islamic horrors.. He (Abdo Eltassi) the article continues, managed to get some money ($100.000) to put up some billboards around town to “as the article says” ‘Manitoba Muslims challenge negative stereotypes’ Interesting note: half of this money comes from the Government. ”The billboard campaign, which will extend to bus shelters in the New Year, marks the first time Muslims in Manitoba have worked together on a community-wide campaign of this kind, says Shahina Siddiqui, president of the Islamic Social Services Association, which spearheaded the $100,000 effort. About half the funding came from government sources, and the remainder was raised in the community or consisted of gifts in kind”. Winnipeg Free Press Now the “Islamic Social Services Associations”, web site, in a room called “The Canadian Muslim room” tells us about how in 1996 Daood Hassan Hamdani, one of the countries foremost authorities on Islam in Canada,(I’ve never heard of him, but there are many) gave an address on Parliament Hill … Mr. Hamdani noted that the 1991 census showed there were more than 250,000 Muslims in Canada compared with 98,000 in 1981 and 33,000 in 1971. I did a little digging on current numbers and found “According to 2001 census, there were 579,640 Muslims in Canada,. In 2006, Muslim population is estimated to be 783,700 or 2.5%.Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Why is almost every Muslim so so proud of how strong thier getting in our counrty? Islam is the fastest growing religion … WHY do they push that thought on us? Because they want to give you an important message, an Idea that many people are running to learn about Islam and converting. Islam is growing big, Islam is the fastest growing Religion they shout at you. They are really leaveing us with this deception. Islam is not growing so quickly because so many Canadians are converting to Islam from other religions, the accual reason is that most are immigrating from Islamic socities. Which begs to ask a Canadian Muslim this question: does putting a smileing white boy on the front page of your website really tell us who you are , or who your target is?. [url=http://www.issaservices.com/]http://www.issaservices.com/[/url] Your servant in Christ A negative stereotype Mark Harding (Fromthedeskofmarkharding@hotmail.com)

'Proud to be in Winnipeg'

Manitoba Muslims challenge negative stereotypes Sun Dec 23 2007 FOR the past week, Abdo Eltassi and his family have loomed larger than life, their faces smiling from billboards around the city as part of a advertising campaign by the Muslim community in Winnipeg. "We hope that it is beneficial to everyone to have the billboards," says Eltassi, chief executive officer of Peerless Garments, adding he had to do a little friendly arm twisting to convince nine members of his family to pose for the photo. The billboard campaign, which will extend to bus shelters in the new year, marks the first time Muslims in Manitoba have worked together on a community-wide campaign of this kind, says Shahina Siddiqui, president of the Islamic Social Services Association, which spearheaded the $100,000 effort. About half the funding came from government sources, and the remainder was raised in the community or consisted of gifts in kind. "We've never actually done a project on this scale before, " says Siddiqui of this city-wide campaign, which kicked off last week after 16 months of consultation with Muslim organizations, other faith groups, and the larger community. Manitoba's Muslim community is small, and very diverse ethnically compared to Muslim populations in other Canadian cities, says religious studies professor Ahmad Yousif. Many of Winnipeg's Muslims have lived here for decades, yet there are a significant number of recent immigrants. "This is what has divided the community into two groups, the old group, the guardians of the community, and the new group, which is struggling to fit in," explains the University of Winnipeg professor who teaches what is thought to be the only undergraduate course on Muslims in Canada in the country The 2001 census put the Muslim population in Manitoba at about 5,000, although that number has increased significantly due to recent immigration, says Siddiqui, who estimates the current number closer to 7,500, representing at least 40 ethnic groups. That means Muslims who may not speak the same language or practice the same culture have to co-operate within this relatively small community in Winnipeg, compared to a place like Toronto, home to 300,000 Muslims, says Yousif. "You can drive two to three minutes (in Greater Toronto) and have a (Islamic) school, drive 15 more minutes and have a mosque, or another two or three minutes and have halal food," he says. Winnipeg has two mosques and only a handful of halal food vendors or restaurants. "We're a multicultural group within a faith group," agrees Siddiqui. "We also wanted to express the diversity" on the billboard campaign. Three designs are featured on the billboards under the heading of Muslims in Manitoba: one portraying Eltassi's family, a group of Muslim youth, and a collection of professionals. The campaign is meant to counter the negative stereotyping of Muslims since Sept. 11, 2001, says Aldis. "In every community, there are some fanatics, but the majority of Muslims around the world want to live in peace and we've demonstrated that in Winnipeg," says the Order of Canada recipient who has lived in Manitoba for the past four decades. "As a community, we're doing good in the large community. We're very proud to be in Winnipeg." In addition to the Islamic Social Services Association, Muslim groups involved in this project include the Manitoba Islamic Association, Canadian Muslim Women's Institute, Al Hijra Islamic School, and the two mosques. brenda@suderman.com


View Comments

Guest Column Mark Harding -- Bio and Archives

Items of notes and interest from the web.


Sponsored