“It’s important because there’s a lot of perceptions of Islam that are out in the community that aren’t represented by who we really are,” said Nadia Mansour, a longtime member who has practiced her faith at the Centre since its opening in 2011.

“When we open up our doors to the community and we have people come in, we get to invite people to our faith and show them what we’re really about.”

Since its establishment 13 years ago, the Islamic Centre has played a significant role in attracting Muslims to Prince George. The presence of a mosque has become a key factor for many considering relocation.

“We are seeing a substantial increase in the number of [Muslim] people coming to this city, and whenever they find a job, the first question they ask the employer is, is there any mosque there because they need that,” said Siraj Ul Islam, the Centre’s secretary.

Beyond providing a place of worship, the Centre serves as a hub for the Muslim community, fostering a sense of belonging and connection. For many, it offers a feeling of home in a new city.

“As soon as I got to know there’s an Islamic Centre, I was quite happy, and when I came here, it was instant,” shared Umair Haroon, a member since last year.

“The first day I was able to meet with a lot of friends who could relate. Since then, there’s a feeling of home, and I have friends that I feel like I’ve known for years because of this Islamic Centre.”

Building Bridges

The open house aimed to build bridges with the wider community, offering a chance to learn about Islam in an open and welcoming environment. The event provided an opportunity for dialogue, with attendees able to observe Islamic practices and ask questions to better understand the faith. It was a step towards fostering mutual respect and breaking down stereotypes.

The Centre continues to be a vital resource for Muslims in Prince George, supporting both spiritual and social needs. It not only helps newcomers integrate into the community but also ensures that long-term residents maintain a strong connection to their faith. As the local Muslim population grows, the Centre’s role as a cultural and religious cornerstone becomes increasingly important.

By opening its doors to the public, the Prince George Islamic Centre hopes to promote understanding and demonstrate the true essence of Islam—a faith centered on peace, compassion, and community.

Source: About Islam

Souad is preparing to move to Algiers in a few months. The 45-year-old French-Algerian woman, a legal assistant living in Lyon, has chosen her parents’ country to start a new life with her 12-year-old son.

“The bad atmosphere in France is pushing me towards the exit a little,” she told Middle East Eye.

“Like all children of immigrants, I have always experienced racism and discrimination, but it was not on the same scale as today. It’s becoming relentless,” she added.

Souad said she no longer wanted to live “in a society that rejects” her.

“I’ve reached a point where I don’t find it normal anymore. I’m fed up.”

On social media, other Algerians born or raised in France, mostly young but sometimes elderly, both women and men, married or single, with children or not, are showing the same desire to cross the Mediterranean for a one-way trip.

They exchange ideas in Facebook groups such as “Make a successful hijra [migration, exile] to Algeria” or “Return to live in Algeria”, where, like Souad, they criticize the rise in racism and Islamophobia in France.

In February, the Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin indicated that anti-Muslim acts had increased by 30 percent in 2023 compared to the previous year.

Out of the 242 acts recorded, more than half were committed in the last three months of 2023, the minister specified, seeing a link with the start of the Israeli war on Gaza following the Hamas-led attacks on 7 October.

“When we were little and my father took us to Algeria for the holidays in El Kseur, near Bejaia [in Kabilya, 220 km east of Algiers], he never stopped praising the beauty of the country,” Bachir, a 33-year-old French-Algerian truck driver from the northern city of Roubaix, told MEE.

His father secretly nurtured the dream of acquiring a pied-a-terre where the family could all live forever, Bachir said. But his project never became reality. As a warehouse worker, he barely earned enough to meet their needs.

Today, Bachir has decided to take the plunge himself with his own family.

“I am taking exactly the same path as my father 40 years ago, but in the opposite direction,” he said jokingly, before pointing to a climate of hatred against foreigners and Muslims that makes France “unlivable”.

“I want my two daughters to grow up in a society that does not push them to the margins because of their name, their skin color and their religion,” he said.

“My wish is that we can, as a family, practice our faith freely, without being accused of being separatists and Salafists,” he added, in reference to a 2021 law pushed forward by President Emmanuel Macron to fight “Islamist separatism” and accused of being discriminatory against Muslims.

Boussad, a mathematics teacher in a Paris high school says: “I no longer feel at home in France. Despite my studies and my long career in teaching, I am constantly brought back to my origins… Racism has become uninhibited. It is unleashed all day long on television screens.”

Officially, there are no statistics about the number of French-Algerians who have chosen Algeria as their country of residence.

These “returns” can also seem marginal compared to the scale of the phenomenon of Algerian migration towards Europe.

Source: The Middle East Eye

A 43-year-old man has been killed outside a Philadelphia mosque in an execution-style shooting that’s been condemned by Pennsylvania’s governor.

Officers found the man, later identified as Raheem Jefferson, unresponsive on the ground with multiple gunshot wounds on Tuesday afternoon, July 30, including at least one to his head and multiple to his torso, according to the Philadelphia Police Department. He was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital shortly afterward.

The killer fired at least 17 shots using a large-caliber semi-automatic weapon, police Chief Inspector Scott Small said a news conference on Wednesday, July 31. Security footage reviewed by police shows Jefferson and another man walking to the Al-Aqsa Islamic Society for prayer service when a suspect approaches from behind before opening fire, Small said.

“It’s all caught on camera,” Scott told reporters. “The shooter stands over the victim from just a few feet away and continues firing shots at this 43-year-old victim while he lays on the parking lot. So clearly, an execution-type homicide.”

No arrests have been made in the case and police haven’t determined a motive but Small said it appears Jefferson was the intended target of the crime.

The shooter was seen getting into a vehicle and fleeing the parking lot while wearing dark-colored clothing, Small said.

A $20,000 reward has been offered for anyone with information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the suspect.

The shooting happened at the Al-Aqsa Islamic Society mosque, established in 1989 in the lower northeast neighborhood of Kensington. Its goal is to “maintain the Islamic Identity and to protect and sustain the Islamic Community in Philadelphia,” according to its website.

Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro condemned the incident on X and shared his condolences.

“Violence outside of a house of worship is deeply painful and traumatizing for those simply showing up to worship and practice their faith,” Shapiro wrote. “As an investigation into this killing proceeds, I’m praying for Philadelphia’s Al-Aqsa Islamic Society community, a place I’ve been several times, and hoping they find peace in each other and in their faith.”

Source: USA Today

Adam Kelwick, 41, an imam at Abdullah Quilliam Mosque, Liverpool’s oldest mosque, was met with a group of 50 far-right sympathising demonstrators.

It was to be one of the first major demonstrations by the far right this weekend and fears were high of a violent outburst posing a danger to communities.

On one side of the road, with their backs to the mosque, was a diverse group of about 200 anti-fascists – equal numbers men and women and a mixture of ages, from students to retirees, including one woman with a “Nans against Nazis” placard.

On the other, facing the mosque, were a bunch of mostly white men, about 30 in number at their peak. Between them, in the road, officers from Merseyside and nearby north Wales forces kept the groups apart, some wearing fireproof clothing, with batons and helmets strapped to their waist. Half a dozen police cars and vans blocked either end.

Police had feared a serious disturbance when a flyer was circulated in far-right groups calling for a demonstration outside Abdullah Quilliam Society mosque on West Derby Road in Liverpool on Friday night, August 2. It followed riots outside a mosque in Southport on Tuesday night, July 30, during which police were pelted with bricks, a police van was torched and property walls and the road were damaged.

The violence was triggered by the fatal stabbing of three girls in the town, Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, while attending a Taylor Swift-inspired dance class on Monday, July 29. Despite official information to the contrary, many rioters chose to believe lies spread on social media that the 17-year-old alleged perpetrator was an undocumented immigrant.

Early on Friday evening, a couple of men appeared to film the anti-racist group gathered outside the mosque in Liverpool. “He’ll be a scout for the far right,” said one seasoned anti-fascist about a lone middle-aged man in a sports top who disappeared as quickly as he had arrived. “Once they see us lot on video, they won’t bother leaving the pub.”

His predictions were broadly right. An early scuffle occurred when a far-right protester was goaded to cross the road by the anti-fascists, who sang: “There are many, many more of us than you” to the tune of the folk song She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain. But after some aggression directed at a young Asian woman, police pulled the middle-aged white man back to his side of the road.

One woman, Rebecca, who held a “No room for racism” banner, said there was something about the character of the people of Liverpool that meant the far right rarely managed to cause more than a slight nuisance to people in the city.

“Liverpool is a place that comes together as a community,” she said. “We’re a very socialist city and we have no room for any sort of unreasoned bias where we’re singling out one ethnic group over another at the end of the day.”

Later in the evening, some members of each group began to talk.

“What is the definition of right wing?” asked Lee, originally from London, who had come because of concerns about immigration. “Doctors, nurses, teachers, we need to embrace them, we need them, chefs, let them come in. But when you have people coming on small boats, mostly males …”

Scarlett, a young Asian woman asked him: “I agree that you can protest about the boats, but what has that got to do with the young girls in Southport? How is it related?”

Lee admitted: “Maybe it’s not related.”

At about 10pm, the imam, Adam Kelwick, crossed the road to hand out burgers and talk to those left about why they had gathered outside the mosque.

Some of them refused to engage in earnest but Don Cornell, originally from Glasgow but living in Liverpool, had a long conversation with Kelwick.

“That’s a fair point,” said Cornell, after Kelwick said the Muslim community shared the same concerns as him about extremism and grooming gangs, two of the far right’s favorite issues.

Kelwick said: “When things have calmed down a bit, we’re going to arrange a forum and we want genuine people like you to come in, and we’ll listen to each other, talk about the issues. But you’ve got to be ready to step up and talk.”

Cornell agreed and the conversation ended in a hug.

Kelwick said he believes most of the people going to these protests are angry and fed up – struggling in their lives, whether it’s with cost of living, the NHS, or fear from hearing stories about “Muslims taking over”.

How do we address this? he says the formula is simple: “Recognising that we’re all humans. We all share these issues which people are raising, and the more we can communicate to each other.”

Kelwick added: “We recognize that a lot of the people who are ‘Islamophobic’, the reason that they have those fears is because they are genuinely worried. Whether those concerns are based on misinformation or or ignorance, that’s another question. But you need to open channels of communication.

“This is the oldest mosque in the country, it’s been there for over 100 years and was founded by a British man.”

Adam pointed out that when the mosque was attacked decades ago, founder Abdullah Quilliam – a British man who converted to Islam – opened the doors of the mosque and invited people in to eat and solve their issues.

“That is a core part of the mosque today,” Adam said. “Don’t protest against us. Protest with us. Your concerns are also our concerns – whether it’s gangs, terrorism and extremism.”

Friday night in Liverpool may have been a scene of uneasy peace but on the opposite English coast in Sunderland, a far-right riot led to a police station being set alight.

With more than a dozen far-right protests organized across the UK on Saturday, police and communities will be hoping they resemble Liverpool, though early indications show any such optimism may be misplaced.

Qari Asim, the chair of the Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board and an imam at Makkah Mosque in Leeds, said Muslims were “deeply worried and anxious” about the nature of the planned demonstrations.

He said he had been visiting mosques to encourage worshippers “to stay vigilant and calm, and ensure that adequate security measures are in place”.

Many Muslims were afraid to walk alone to their local mosque for Friday prayers, feeling as though people on the far right were “out to get us”, one imam said. In Southport, at the mosque that was the scene of Tuesday’s riots, attendance was down and worshippers kept their children at home when they went for lunchtime prayers on Friday, August 2.

Asim said he wanted to thank the police, who had “shown remarkable courage whilst under constant and sustained attack from racist thugs”.

He said: “The support and friendship offered by people of other faiths and beliefs has been heartening. Many non-Muslims visiting mosques to show solidarity or making a human chain outside a mosque to protect it from damage, is what makes Britain so special, and reminds us that only by coming together, can we defeat hatred and extremism. Love will prevail over hatred.”

Source: The Guardian

By Douglas Pratt

Publisher: Routledge

Publication Date: March 1, 2021

ISBN: 978-1472485984

This book introduces and examines the work of two significant 21st century Christian – Muslim dialogue initiatives – “Building Bridges” and the “Christian–Muslim Theological Forum” – and gives close attention to five theological themes that have been addressed in common by them.

An overview and analysis, including inception, development, outputs and significance, together with discussion of the select themes – community, scripture, prophecy, prayer and ethics – allows for an in-depth examination of significant contemporary Muslim and Christian scholarship on issues important to both faith communities. The result is a challenging encounter to, arguably, a widespread default presumption of irredeemable mutual hostility and inevitable mutual rejection with instances of violent extremism as a consequence.

Demonstrating the reality that deep interreligious engagement is possible between the two faiths today, this book should appeal to a wide readership, including upper undergraduate and graduate teaching as well as professionals and practitioners in the field of Christian-Muslim relations.

Source: Routledge

The gathering at the Canberra Islamic Centre last night, is part of the Australian Human Rights Commission’s consultations with Australian-Muslims, announced after the deadly attacks on places of worship in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Commissioner Tan told the Canberra gathering he wants to identify community strengths, concerns and priorities and hear about ideas for change. “These national consultations are an opportunity to ensure that the voices of Australian-Muslim communities are centered in national discussions about Islamophobia, racism and related intolerances in Australia…The conversations will help develop supports for Muslim communities and inform the Commission’s work in promoting social cohesion,” Commissioner Tan said.

Source: Australian Human Rights Commission