Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahu Wa Barakatuhu,

In response to the recent community spread of COVID 19 in the St. John's metro region, the MANAL Executive Committee has decided to introduce extra measures for the health and well-being of our community members as well as our society at large.

Effective February 10th, the Al Noor Mosque, located at 430 Logy Bay Road, will be closed for all congregational prayers until further notice. This includes all daily prayers and weekly Jumah prayers.

We advise all members of our Muslim community to continue to strictly follow public health guidelines and act responsibly during these challenging times.

We pray for the quick recovery of all our fellow Newfoundlanders and Labradorians who are affected by this recent outbreak. We also express our sincere thanks to our Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Janice Fitzgerald, and to the public health professionals who work tirelessly to keep us all safe during this pandemic.

We will continue to update you via the MANAL website (www.manal.ca) as this latest situation evolves.

Thank you for your kind understanding and cooperation.

Jazakumullahu Khairan
MANAL Executive Committee

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahu Wa Barakatuhu.

About 4 years ago, the Islamic Cultural Center of Quebec (CCIQ) was attacked by a gunman who killed 6 Muslim Canadians and severely injured many others while they were peacefully praying Isha. This brutal Islamophobic attack traumatized not only its immediate victims but also the entire nation and world community. 

Since then, MANAL and many other Canadian Muslim organizations work and collaborate to address and eliminate Islamophobia in Canada. Our efforts so far included offering our testimony before the House of Commons to help formulate what needs to be done. We also collaborated with allies in our City and Province, organizing local partnerships and events.

This year, due to ongoing pandemic, we won't be able to organize in person events to mark the 4th anniversary of Quebec Mosque shooting. However, this doesn't mean that we will forget this tragic moment in our history or lose momentum in our efforts.

The following is a highlight of some initiatives that we are taking part in this year as we commemorate the 4th anniversary of Quebec Mosque shooting: 

• Last week, together with over 70 Canadian Muslim organizations, we sent a joint letter to our Prime Minister for the designation of January 29 as a National Day of Remembrance and Action on Islamophobia in Canada.
• To raise awareness about Quebec Mosque shooting, we are again joining and promoting the national "Green Square Campaign" which involves publicly wearing a small felt green square through the last week of January (NCCM – National Council of Canadian Muslims | Green Square Campaign)
• This Friday, on January 29, 2021, at 8 pm on NL time, we will be joining an online national vigil and webinar that will be hosted by the CCIQ and NCCM. It is a free public event that will be live broadcasted via NCCM's Facebook page and anyone would be able to watch it on or off FB. (CCIQ’s January 29th Vigil and Webinar)

We encourage all our community members to actively participate in the Green Square Campaign and also to tune in on the evening of January 29 to join the national online vigil & webinar.

Jazakumullahu Khairan,

MANAL Executive Committee

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahu Wa Barakatuhu.

We are informed that the Canadian Muslim COVID-19 Task Force (CMCTF)  will be hosting a virtual town hall this Sunday, January 3rd to inform Muslim communities across Canada about the COVID-19 vaccines.

Please kindly note that the event will begin at 8:30 PM (NL Time) and that you can watch it either via Facebook or Zoom. The detailed instructions for tuning in are provided below for your information.

Jazakumullahu Khairan,

MANAL Executive Commitee

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The Canadian Muslim COVID-19 Task Force (CMCTF) would like to invite you to a virtual town hall entitled "Health and Hope on the Horizon: Understanding the COVID-19 Vaccines" on Sunday January 3, 2021 from 7:00pm - 8:30pm (Eastern Standard Time).

This town hall aims to provide a neutral platform to openly discuss complicated issues and provide answers to questions Canadian Muslims may currently have pertaining to the COVID-19 vaccines.

Inshallah we will have Closed Caption and/or ASL interpretation available for this broadcast.

Featuring distinguished panelists:

1) Dr. Abdu Sharkawy, MD, BMSc, FRCPC, Infectious Diseases Expert
2) Sr. Samiya Abdi, MPH, Public Health Specialist
3) Sr. Rabia Khedr, MA, CMCTF Co-chair, Human Rights Advocate
4) Imam Dr, Hamid Slimi, PhD, Islamic Law, Imam and Community Leader
5) Dr. Fatima Kamalia, MD, FRCPC, Pediatrician
6) Imam Yūsuf Badāt, Masters in Islamic Sciences, Imam and Fiqh Expert
 

How to Tune In:

• The town hall will be conducted on Zoom and will be broadcast directly to the task force's Facebook page (facebook.com/cmcovidtf) as a Live stream. 
• Individuals can also register for the town hall via Zoom (if they don't have or aren't comfortable using Facebook) at Zoom Registration link on our website.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Assalamu Alaikum.

Alhamdulillah, on November 4th, we had an online information session to brief our community about the Muslim Narratives and Lives in NL Archival Project.

The link to the session recording is provided below for your information.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5rMkDtvg6g

We hope that through this project, we will all start thinking archivally and contribute to the formation of a Muslims Archive at Memorial University Library.

If you have archival materials (photos, videos, etc.) to donate, please kindly contact Project Lead (Dr. Jennifer Selby) at jselby at mun.ca.

Jazakumullahu Khairan

MANAL Executive Committee