A Canadian solution to Islamophobia

The Oxford dictionary defines Islamophobia as an intense dislike or fear of Islam and/or Muslims, especially as a political force. Anne Sophie Roald, a renown professor of History of Religion, states that “Islamophobia was recognized as a form of intolerance alongside xenophobia and antisemitism.” Islamophobia was one of the factors contributing to an incident in Quebec that resulted in the death of six men and injured 19 others when Alexandre Bissonnette open fired at worshippers in a Quebec mosque on Jan. 30, 2017 in Montreal. More recently, Darren Osbourne ran over a number of worshippers outside a mosque at Finsbury Park on June 19, 2017 killing one and injuring 10; and on June 29, 2017, a man was arrested after trying to drive a car into a crowd in front of a mosque in the Paris suburb of Creteil. The statistics on Islamophobia in Canada show a disturbing trend.

The Canadian Community Engagement Study is being undertaken to understand the level of communication between Canadians Muslims and their fellow Canadians. The survey aims to take a deeper look at how Canadians think and feel about Muslim Canadians.

All Canadians 18 years of age and older can complete the survey online at: https://thinkforactions.com/ cces/survey/

The results from the study will be shared at Think for Action’s, “Unity Conference” on Sept. 16th 2017 at the University of Calgary.

Dr. Mukarram Zaidi, Calgary