Mac Muslims condemn ISIS violence

(Updated)

After officer Patrice Vincent and Corporal Nathan Cirillo were killed in acts of terror, students with the McMaster Muslim Student Association were asked why they weren’t speaking out against those attacks. Today, they hosted an event condemning those who have misrepresented their religion while educating students about the true meaning of Islam.

After the two attacks on Canadian soil that left two soldiers dead, Canadian-Muslims have been forced to defend themselves against the actions of a select few.

Hatf Sohail, MSA Director: “You always get one end of Islam, you see what those people continuously do on a day to day basis. When in fact those people aren’t practicing the religion properly in my opinion.”

And as a result, some have had to endure the negative fallout.

“Somebody came up to her and said, ‘oh, look it’s a witch, burn her. The keyboard warriors, as we like to term them, you see them a lot, where they paint Islam as this very backward type of inherently violent religion.”

And that’s why the Muslim Student Association launched the #notinmyname’ campaign at the McMaster Student Centre.

Zohair Rahman: “Present a message of Islam that is clear, concise and that is the true message of Islam which is one of compassion and peace.”

The campaign was first discussed in September but the attacks on our Canadian soldiers prompted members to work quickly to squash those stigmas

Rahman: “It kind of heightened the urgency, heightened the need and also heightened the hype on campus in terms of getting people involved and getting Muslims engaged in this activity.”

University is a place of learning, not just in the lecture hall, but through events like this. And the reception has been good.

While there were informative posters and pamphlets, the majority of knowledge was spread through basic conversation.

“I’m from Egypt. I want to see what they thought about the whole coup, and the Muslim brotherhood and all that stuff that happened in the past few years.”

“Let’s say you start talking to the person doing your henna tattoo and you can learn more about their culture just from speaking with someone who knows.”

“I think it’s a good way to bring people on some of the basics of the religion. There are people walking around willing to share with you the ideals of it.”

The learning is still going on. A lecture started at 6pm that’s being hosted by a McMaster alumni that now an Imam at a mosque in Winnipeg.

They hoping to do this again as it was very well received — but next time under different circumstances.