Globe and Mail

Op-ed commentary on issues pertaining to Muslims and Islam since 2002

Gay. Straight. Atheist. Believer. Sunni. Shia. Man. Woman. Child. This past Ramadan, the Islamic State proved to be an equal-opportunity killing machine. Nor did it discriminate where it murdered members of the human family: a nightclub, an airport, a packed shopping mall, a café. Even the mosque of Prophet Mohammed...

“Too broken to write,” I told my editor, after the onslaught of Conservative announcements. The niqab was condemned. Citizenship was revoked for convicted terrorists with dual citizenship. Canadians were reminded of “barbaric cultural practices,” and the federal government’s preference for mainly non-Muslim Syrian refugees was reiterated. Make no mistake: This divisive strategy is meant to prey upon fear and prejudice...

The recent Environics Institute survey of Muslims in Canada reveals a community that belies facile stereotypes – no more so than when you analyze the results along gender lines...

In the wake of the horrific slaughter in Paris, what steps do we take? Some believe the best antidote is punitive strikes meant to deter, if not destroy, those who would contemplate further murder of non-combatants. Others, such as Canadian author Nancy Huston, point to the macabre scales of death: The killing of innocents abroad by Western countries begets the killing of innocents at home. Either way, we are caught in a vicious cycle of “an eye for an eye.” A policy, which Gandhi observed, that makes the whole world go blind...

Dr. Sheema Khan is a former academic in the field of chemical physics; Lorna Dueck is host of Context TV, seen Sundays on Global and Vision TV...

From 2000 to 2005, I served as the chair of CAIR-CAN, a grassroots advocacy organization that fought discrimination against Muslims. Whether it was a Muslim woman denied employment because of her hijab, or the rendition of Maher Arar, we fought for basic human rights based on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This journey opened my eyes to my own double standards: I fought for Muslims to be treated with basic human dignity by the wider society, yet looked the other way when such treatment was denied to women within my own community...

Earlier this month, Khairuldeen Makhzoomi, a California university student, was removed from a Southwest Airlines flight when a passenger became suspicious about his Arabic cellphone conversation. He had been speaking to his uncle in Baghdad about a recent United Nations dinner he attended. As the passenger glared at him, the 26-year-old told his uncle he would call later, adding, “Inshallah.” This expression sealed his fate...

Donning a burkini can be a sign of modesty, or it may be that the woman wearing it is sensitive to sun, or is a cancer survivor...

Muslim youth are lacking spaces to connect with their communities, politically and otherwise. This must change...

I am ashamed to admit that for decades, I had no knowledge of the terrible injustices inflicted upon Canada’s aboriginal peoples...

Speaker

Aga Khan Museum, Toronto, Ontario