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About Us
In 1998 Decentralization created branches
and chapters within each municipality boundaries. In 2007
under new BCMA Constitution the Women were given autonomy to function as
Women’s Affair Board. Five active Branches and Chapters were formed namely;
Burnaby
/ New West/Tri-City Branch,
Surrey
/ Delta Chapter, Surrey East Chapter, Richmond Chapter, Vancouver Chapter, Victoria
Chapter, Nanaimo Chapter and Abbotsford Chapter. There are over 300 paid women members.
Mission
Our Mission is to manage the issues and interests of the women and youth girls.
Services
- Promoting and providing Islamic Education and Dawah
- Funeral Services
- Social Services
- Youth Services(girls)
- Interfaith Dialogue
·
Funeral Services-
Education, Demonstration of Gusl, Kafn cutting etc.
·
Social Services-
Breast Cancer Awareness, Foster Home Seminars, working with Ministry of Child and
Family Developments (MCFD) advocate for Muslim
foster children due to our requirement of
religious, racial, language ,heritage ethnicity
and dietary needs. Seminar and workshop in
the community.
·
Violence Against Women-Workshop
·
Conflict resolution-Counseling
services
·
Parenting Classes
·
Anti- Bullying
·
Participation
in Politics-Municipal, Provincial
and Federal levels.
·
Providing Support
to Homeless- Hotmeals through Outreach Programs.
·
Acknowledge-
20 Years of Muslim Women Volunteering in
the Community
·
Assisting in re-
settlement of New Immigrants and Refugees in the Society.
Some of
the Events:
·
Mother Daughter Get together
·
Conference on Women’s
“Journeying onto Brighter Horizon”
·
Conflict resolution
·
Halaqua on Ramadan
·
Breast Cancer Awareness conducted at 3 Mosques.
·
Acknowledging 20 years of Women Volunteering
in the Community.
·
Participating in Municipal, Provincial and Federal
Politics
The Board
Of Women’s Affairs:
Chairperson-
Zubeda Khairati
General Secretary-
Farida Bano Ali
General treasurer-
Hamida Hassan
Education-
Zuleika Husain
Communication-
Kauser Khokhar
Social Services-
Hazra Ismail
Planning & Development-
Laila Akhtary
Funeral
Services- Mary Asin
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The History
of Women in the British Columbia Muslim Association
The journey of Muslim women in British Columbia and, in particular, as members of
the BC Muslim Association is filled with stories of hard work, perseverance, cooperation,
and dedication. Today, alhamdulillah, as Islamic awareness is steadily increasing,
Muslim women are becoming more visible in numerous aspects of Canadian society.
Masajid and Islamic schools are either present or being built in many towns and
suburbs and are focal points where women of different backgrounds can meet and congregate.
Members of the BCMA Women’s Council and the branch Women’s Chapters have devoted
themselves to aiding their local communities with activities such as religious and
social education, promoting interfaith dialogue, as well as many charitable works.
As we benefit from the current services that BCMA provides, we should take the time
to reflect upon how pioneering women have played a key role in the progression of
the BC Muslim community.
For those that have grown up in Canada, it is difficult to imagine what it must
have been like for Muslims, especially those that arrived as immigrants only a few
decades ago. The experience was especially challenging for Muslim
women as many were young brides who had to
leave their families and native lands behind to forge a new life with their husbands
in Canada. Traditionally responsible for running the household, women were confronted
with issues that dealt with raising their families in accordance with Islamic values
and ensuring that religious knowledge was imparted to their children. The lack of
both a proper masjid and a local Muslim authority made practicing certain elements
of Islam more difficult during the early years.
Furthermore, the fact that many Muslim Canadians hailed from different parts of
the world (as they continue to do so today) presented a unique challenge as cultural
and language boundaries had to be overcome in order to unify as a community.
In 1966, several proactive local Muslims founded the British Columbia Muslim Association.
Ten years later, in order to address various women’s issues and concerns, a BCMA
Women’s Auxiliary, with sister Fatima Ali as the chairperson, was established. A
women’s Religious Committee was also formed, headed by sisters Tazul Ali and the
late Hafizan Salar Buksh.
The late Mrs. Buksh, affectionately known as “khalaji” (aunt) to some, and “nani”
(grandmother) to others, was widely regarded as a maternal figure to many in the
Muslim community. Respected for her knowledge on Islam, she was always a generous
source of information and advice for quite a few Muslim women ever since her arrival
to Vancouver as an immigrant from Fiji. Mrs. Buksh, along with sister
Subratan Usman, were among the first
to give demonstrations on Muslim funeral rites including ghusl, kaffan cutting,
and enshrouding for women. She was also especially committed to teaching about Islam
and giving Arabic lessons to young children. Mrs. Buksh continues to be fondly remembered
as a dedicated teacher, volunteer, and pioneer of the BC Muslim Community.
The ability to provide masajid and schools for the growing Muslim community continually
requires sufficient resources. As a result, fundraising efforts have been vital
for BCMA whose female members have always been enthusiastic participants. From the
time of the first women’s Social Committee,
led by sisters Mehrul Aziz Khan and Kamla Habib under the guidance of the early
Women’s Auxiliary, many women have volunteered to organize and take part in various
fundraising projects.
The opening of the Jamia Masjid in Richmond in 1982 was quite a milestone for the
BC Muslim Association. It was an exceptionally satisfying moment for the women of
the community as they finally had a separate area where they could congregate for
prayers, meetings, classes, and halaqas.
In 1988, there was a transformation in the role of women in BCMA with the establishment
of the first Women’s Chapter, which gave the female members a broader mandate regarding
their own affairs - with an emphasis on issues relating to women and female youth.
The following decade saw the Women’s Chapter undertaking many initiatives that provided
valuable services to the Muslim community. One such initiative was the formation
of a Ghusl Committee whose work became so indispensable that in order to benefit
the community as a whole, the committee was officially moved to the Burial Services
portfolio of the Association. Other notable activities and achievements of the Women’s
Chapter include the presentation of an Assault Awareness Program alongside the Vancouver
Police Department to educate women on how to protect themselves from being victims
of crime; the publishing of the BC Muslim Women’s Magazine; serving meals to the
homeless in downtown Vancouver; and, participating in the building proposals for
the Surrey Masjid. Raising funds for a number of worthy causes was always a focus
for the Women’s Chapter exemplified by endeavors
such as the purchase of a hearse, covering the financial shortfall of a hajj group,
and sponsoring the home economics classroom at the BC Muslim School.
The constant growth of the BC Muslim population has led to the development of BCMA
branches in various communities. Alhamdulillah, there are now local Women’s Chapters
in Vancouver, Surrey/Delta, Burnaby/New Westminster, Richmond, the North Shore,
Victoria, Nanaimo, and Kelowna. A Women’s Council
made up of representatives from the local branch chapters was formed as a central
administrative and coordinating body. In 2007, a new constitution allowed women
to conduct their affairs independently and on a parallel basis with the BCMA executive.
As a result, the Women’s Council and local chapters are now able to enjoy greater
autonomy regarding decision-making as well as the initiation and implementation
of programs. A Board of Women’s Affairs has been created with the intention of carrying
out the decisions and resolutions of the Council.
The recent activities of the BCMA women in the past few years reflect how much the
organization has evolved and adapted in order to meet the needs of the community.
Since raising Islamic awareness has been an important goal, the BCMA women have
participated in events including the celebration of Eid-ul-Adha at the Provincial
Legislature and interfaith dialogues with sisters of other faiths. The successful
launch of the first annual Women’s Conference in 2007 was a major step towards promoting
the role of Muslim women in Canadian society. Future aspirations of the Women’s
Council and the local chapters involve expanding community work to local food banks
and women’s shelters, generating support for
Muslim women who wish pursue a higher education, and creating a greater sense of
environmental awareness in the community.
The current female membership of the BC Muslim Association have demonstrated that
they are committed to continuing the hard work and upholding the visions of their
predecessors. Over the last forty years the wonderfully diverse group of Muslim
women in British Columbia have risen above cultural and language barriers among
many other challenges to unite together as sisters and volunteers to provide services
that benefit both the Muslim community as well as Canadian society.
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BC
Muslim Women Chapter's Activities
These are the activities that we
have done:
1.
Sept.
08/2007 “Lets get to know each other” held in Richmond Masjid. Over 100 Youths and
sisters participated. Collected $1500. in donation that went towards Richmond Masjid
renovations.
2.
Sept.07/2007
Ghusul Team went to Nanaimo Chapter to give a demonstration and Kaffan Cutting.
3.
Oct.22/2007
Interfaith Dialouge and Eid-Ul-Fitr Celebration with the High Croft Women, UBC.
4.
Nov.17/2007
First Annual Conference “Journeying into Brighter Horizons” held a Kwantlen University/College
in
Surrey
. Over 200 sisters and youths from various diverse communities of the Lower Mainland
participated. The speakers chosen were sisters, Fatima Khanzada, Hafsa Dean, Zein
Ali, Faiza Ali, Ayesha Merchant. Positive feedback and great review.
5.
Dec/2007
Acknowledgement of 19 years of Women Chapter and Volunteerism in the community.
6.
Breast
Cancer Awareness launched at three local Masajids with the Breast Cancer Agency.
7.
Feb.23/2007
At Masjidul Haqq,
Vancouver
8.
Feb.9/2007 At Jamia Masjid ,
Richmond
9.
Jan.26/2007
At Surrey Jamia Masjid,
Surrey
Alhamdulilah many sisters and youth
girls participated eager to learn and gain more insight into the prevention and
symptoms of breast cancer. It was also in turn a daw’ah for the non-muslim doctors
and professors of the BC Cancer Agency. They got a tour of the masajid. A cheque
of $500 was made out to the Cancer Agency towards Breast Cancer research by the
Women’s council.
1.
Mar.16/2008
Qur’an Competition held at Masjid Jamia. It was a great turn out of about 100 mothers
and youth girls. Prizes were given out.
2.
May.17/2008
Conflict Resolution and Directors Portfolio Outline: Educational and informative
session.
3.
Aug.9/2008
Blessings and Virtues of Ramaadan Held at masjidul Haqq, Conducted by 3 speakers.
Mufti Sujjad, br. Fahim Khan, youth speaker: Arif Khan. The speakers focused on
preparing ourselves for Ramadaan and how to attain taqwa/piety. Positive response,
about $1,000 + was generated from the ticket
sales
Since 2007, actively interacting
with Ministry of Children and Families in conjunction with the BCMA Social Service
Executive, Foster home awareness to the community, Liaison was developed between
the foster home and the ministry for supervised visits.
Sept.3/2008 -donation cheque of
$500. given to Human Concern International,
Canada
, for Al-Ihsaan Women’s Vocational Centre in
Bangladesh
.
Involved in Food banks, women’s
shelter home, violence against women, inshaAllah making more awareness in the community
to empower Muslim Women.
Ghusul demonstrations have been
requested by various organizations
Our Vision:
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To
encourage and promote sisters who are pursuing Islamic Studies through various universities.
So far there is no Muslim organization that aids in this area.
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Promoting
and creating awareness in Global warming and re-cycling.
·
To
give cloth bags in 2008 to the Hujjaj who will be going for Hajj, Insha Allah.
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Planning
Future conferences for youth/sisters regarding unity and sisterhood
·
To
be more visible as a minority (Women in Hijab) by getting involved in the community
and politics.
·
Providing
articles to foster awareness of the role of Muslim Women, in Muslims and Indo-Canadians
periodical magazines.
·
Breast
Cancer Awareness in all Masajids.
·
Acknowledgement
and appreciation of sisters who have been
volunteering in the community for last 20 years.
·
A
plan to produce a magazine to outline their commitments.
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