Meeting Places and Canadian Muslims

Canadian Muslims: Among those meeting places, mostly pubs and restaurants across the country, one stood out: the CBC was also broadcasting from the Ahmadiyya Mosque in Maple, Ont. From the mosque came the sights and sounds of everyday Canadian families cheering on the likes of Sidney Crosby, Drew Doughty and Carey Price as they battled Team Sweden. These families, like those in the pubs and restaurants, were united in that moment. And as I watched the game, I was proud: proud of Canadians, proud of Team Canada and proud of those Muslims in Maple, according to The Star. One might fault the media for this and one might have a point, but for the most part, thats not where we should be heaping the blame. Apparently, if you re like the Ahmadiyya Mosque in Maple, all you need to do is organize an event where Muslims can gather and show their Canadian pride, put out the word, and quick as you know it, a reporter might appear and Last Sunday, about 15 million Canadians tuned into the CBC to watch the Canadian mens hockey team win the gold medal in Sochi . Thats almost half the country. During the game, CBC broadcast live shots of towns and meeting places where Canadians had congregated in the early hours of the morning to cheer on our team. You see, whether we re watching TV, a movie or reading newspapers, we re more accustomed to seeing Muslims associated with negative, often horrific images of Islamic fundamentalists. We re also used to seeing Muslim commentators, hired by news channels and publications, defending or attacking what goes on in countries that have the word Islamic attached to them. What we are not used to seeing are images like the one from that gold medal hockey game ordinary Canadian Muslims congregated at their local mosque rooting for their national team. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.