CANADIAN COUNCIL OF MUSLIM WOMEN
LE CONSEIL CANADIEN DES FEMMES MUSULMANES

IN THE NAME OF GOD

Young Muslim Women: Our Future
Calgary - October 14, 2000

The purpose of the conference is to provide opportunities to educate young Muslim women and men about issues that hinder full participation in full Muslim and broader society. The conference will enable them to develop strategies to overcome these barriers and play leadership roles in their families and communities. We will address issues which will promote a better understanding of faiths and cultural beliefs within the Muslim community as well as the Calgary community as a whole. The conference includes a unique youth presentation and educational workshops and will result in a Resource Kit for future presentations.

We are honoured to have international speakers, Dr. Laila al Marayati, and Dr. Ashgar Ali Engineer.
 

Please come and join the dynamic and knowledgeable workshops. Topics will be of interest for the whole family and community. (Child Care Provided)

CANADIAN COUNCIL OF MUSLIM WOMEN
CONFERENCE 2000
AGENDA
 

CONFERENCE 2000:
 

We look forward to seeing you at our 17`h Annual National Conference to be held in Calgary on the weekend of October 13`h - 15`h, 2000, Insha Allah.
 

The theme is Young Muslim Women: Our Future and the Keynote Speakers are Dr. Laila al Marayati and Asghar All Engineer. Laila is a young, dynamic and charismatic speaker who was asked for by our young members. She is a physician, an activist, a mother and Director of the U.S. based Muslim Women's League. Laila will speak about the challenges and opportunities to young Muslim women so that thy can be leaders. She will also facilitate the worship on Racism among us.
 

Asghar Ali Engineer is a renowned Islamic scholar who has written extensively on a wide variety of subjects. We are honoured that he will address the topic of Justice, Women and Communal Harmony, and also be our dinner speaker.
 

Our other facilitators are Constable Cam Stewart of the Calgary Police, Darlyn Mentor of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation and our vibrant young Muslim women such as Shelina Neallani, Rahat Kurd, Humera Ibraham, and Board members Nina Karachi, Iman Zebian and Nuzhat Jafri.

We are grateful to the Calgary Chapter for hosting the Conference, as we know what a lot of work is involved.
 

The outcome of the conference will be the development of a Resource Kit which will be based on the conference and video taping.

RESOURCE KIT

We are delighted to have a group of young women who will develop the Kit, under the supervision of the Board. A Terms of Reference has been completed and we have a work group. The members are Erum Afsar, Regina; Laila Badeir, Montreal; Rehana Begg, Toronto; Humera Ibrahim, Ottawa; Rahat Kurd, Vancouver; Noreen Najeed, Montreal and Iman Zebian, London. They will be assisted by Board member Nuzhat Jafri.
 

The Resource Kit will contain a video, a Discussion Guide and Resource Materials and will build on the 1999 Panel Discussion of young women.
 

The Resource Kit, once in draft form, will be tested across the country via focus groups and will then be finalized by May 2000. The Kit will be used to publicize and educate young Muslim women themselves and also other groups. We will share with sister organizations and Boards of Education. The chapters will use them in their own communities.

We will be pleased to hear from young women about the issues which they feel should be included, please write to the Board and we will forward your comments to the work group.

UN CONFERENCE ON RACISM
 

One of the exciting events is that of the World UN Conference on Racism, to be held in South Africa in August 2001.
 

CCMW is hoping that our Resource Kit can be used by the Government of Canada, as an example of how one Canadian community is actively addressing the issues of racism, prejudice and discrimination within and around us. We want to demonstrate that Muslims, in Canada, have the unique privilege of being a microcosm of a multi cultural, multi ethnic community, which can live in tolerance and harmony.
 

CCMW will attend a national Consultation Session to be held by the Department of Canadian Heritage for the UN Conference.

FUNDERS
 

We are grateful to the Status of Women's Program, the Department of Canadian Heritage, Multiculturalism and the Department of Justice for considering our applications for funding.
Our special thanks to Suresh Kumar, Barbara Riley and Nahid Roboubi.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
 

The A.G.M. will be held on Sunday, October 15, 2000, following the Conference. Please feel free to attend as the Board and Chapters present the work completed in the last year and discuss other issues of the organization.

BOARD UPDATE
 

The Board has been very busy with the completion of the tasks from the 1999 Conference and the planning of the Conference for 2000.
 

The Board was contacted by an organization of Muslim women in Guyana and we met with them in August 2000. NACOSA of the Central Islamic Organization of Guyana, stands for National Committee of Sisters' Affairs. They help women with fundamentals such as nutrition, employment based assistance as well as counseling. They have Islamic schools as well. We had a very good discussion about their and our work and we hope to do some future collaboration, Insha Allah.
 

We thank Chandra Budhu of Partners, a development organization based in Ottawa for introducing us to NACOSA.
 

We got a lot of e-mails with questions about Islam and Women due to our website. Our website is being redesigned by Arzina Merali and we are very grateful to her.

PUBLICATIONS
 

We have distributed our publications widely. The Claiming Our Rights Position Paper has been sent to the federal and provincial Human Rights Commissions, to universities and to other Muslim scholars and organizations.
 

The Media Relations Handbook has been sent to media and other Muslim organizations. Raheel Riaza.has also presented it at workshops.
 

If any organization would like a copy or would like Raheel to set up a workshop, please let us know. The guide is a hands on, practical tool for anyone who wants to deal with the media.

The book Islam: Its Roots and Wings has been completed and is now available for $10 a copy. It is an excellent resource for Muslims and non-Muslims as it presents solid, accurate information in a concise and easy to read format. It also contains phrases and cultural practices which will be useful for interested individuals and groups. We thank Professor Sajida Alvi for writing the Foreword and to Professor Lynda Clark for being our consultant.
 

The "McGill Project" has been completed! This will be a book of articles by Canadian scholars on Islam and Women, and although a long time in the making, it will be a tremendous pioneer work. The topics are universal and yet the focus is on Muslim Women in Canada. The book is with publishers and we hope it will soon be published.
Our sincere thanks to the editors, Professors Sajida Alvi, Homa Hoodfar and Sheila McDonough and the various other writers.

OF INTEREST:

LILA FAHLMAN
 

Congratulations to our founder Lila Fahlman who has recently been appointed by the University of Alberta as the first Muslim female Chaplain. Lila has always been a pioneer and we are proud of her accomplishments. Lila is also an author and her books can be bought directly from her.

Kazi Publications of Lahore, Pakistan are now on the Internet and their books can be ordered via e-mail: kazip@brain.net.pk. Their mailing address is: 121, Zulqarnain Chambers, Ganpat Road, Lahore, Pakistan

Women in Public Policy Document
 

The final report (in French, English, and Braille) of the Women in Public Policy initiative
is now available: Steps: Toward a Credible and Inclusive Public Policy Project (Les etapes d'un processus d'elaboration de politiques publiciques credibles et inclusives).
 

The publication, the result of an extensive research and consultation process, has its objectives:
 

1. To help community groups to participate, from the beginning, in public policy development.

2. To provide detailed steps to help make the public policy process more public and transparent.

3. To indicate to researchers and policy-makers what women's groups are looking for when they speak of community participation in the development, implementation, and revision of policies.
    

People can contact the e-mail address wehiacob@web.ca phone (902) 475-3633 for copies. The report is also available at this web site: http://www.medicine.dal.ca/mcewh/wipp.htm

Conference: Women's Health & Diversity
 

A national conference will be held April 26-28, 2001, at Radisson Hotel, Longueil, Montreal by the Centre of Excellence for Women's Health, University de Montreal. Email: lesaf@ere.umontreal.ca
 

The Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children has been commissioned to determine how children/youth are doing in terms of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Please contact Kelli Dilworth kdilworth@cich.ca for more information.

PRAYER
 

Dr. Fuad Sahin, a strong ally and friend of CCMW, the Imam of the Niagara Region mosque has given us this prayer, which we know you will all like.
 

PRAYER

Our Lord, the Magnificent Creator, the One, the Only One god: We all come to You in prayer.

You chose to make us into different tribes and nations. You gave us different colours and languages; different religions and cultures; different looks and outlooks. You called us by different names and You made us live in different parts of this beautiful world.

Our Lord, make us appreciate the varieties, benefit from the differences and rejoice in the diversity.

Our Lord, help us find Peace within ourselves that we live in peace with each other.

Help us guard and preserve the dignity of every man, woman and child that we may enjoy our humanity.

Free us from greed and prejudices so that fairness and justice thrive; Fill our hearts with Your love so that we love all mankind;

Our Lord: We pray for Your love and Your Mercy. We may not necessarily be the most deserving, but You certainly are the most compassionate, the most generous.
Fuad Sahin