2009 has been a very productive year for our Chapter with changes beginning with presidents and the chapter name.  Through regular monthly meetings and social events, his year also saw an increase in membership attendance and participation, greater team collaboration as well as enthusiasm to build a stronger and dedicated group.

The year began with a transition from founding President Asmah Kassim-Elliot to recommended new President Adeela Qureshi.  Next, in order to reach out and provide services to more women, the name of the chapter also changed the Brampton Chapter to the GTA West Chapter.

The year also started with a brainstorming session, where the chapter members decided on goals for the next few years, to align with the National Board.  These goals included:

• Increasing awareness of CCMW and our chapter

• Hosting social events

• Creating a repository of services for women to access

• Increasing participation and membership

• Raising funds for the chapter

The chapter has met many of its goals and is working hard on achieving the remaining goals over the next few years.  The CCMW GTA West Chapter accomplished the following goals this year.

• Increased awareness through creating a presence on Facebook, where events and meetings are publicized.

• Holding monthly meetings for team involvement and to create a social atmosphere.

• Organizing and holding two social events for members and those interested in CCMW.  A workshop on “Stress and Mental Health” was organized and held in June 2009 and an Eid Dinner in October 2009.

In addition to holding events, socializing and increasing awareness, the CCMW GTA West Chapter has also supported many causes and attended events held by other chapters.  Some of the events attended by our chapter have been a dinner for Gaza, Rehma Tea, Women in Leadership High Tea.  Many team members also showed support through attending the High Tea by the Waterloo Chapter. 

With the increase of member participation and to make CCMW GTA West reach all its goals over the next few years, the chapter will hold elections for the following roles.

• President

• Treasurer

• Secretary

• Communications Officer

• Event Planner

• 3 Executive members

A dedicated team that has worked hard to make this year a success.   With more executive members and continued passion for success, this team will most likely ensure that all goals for this chapter are achieved in the upcoming years.  The team will also make improvements and enhancements as to provide empowerment to women in Canada, in alignment with the CCMW National goals. 

Adeela Qureshi

November 26, 2009

These papers evolved out of community discussions, or were designed with community discussion in mind. The first is on the topic of women imams, and developed out a lengthy dialogue with community leaders, mainly Mubin Shaykh, the Imam of the Noor mosque in Toronto. The paper was posted on several other websites in a modified form and received many responses.

The second paper, "Shari'a Tribunals" developed in the aftermath of faith-based arbitration, when it became increasingly clear that there was a need for more internal dialogue between the various groups and individuals that comprise the Muslim community in Ontario. It was put up for discussion in a forum, which we called GTA forum. However, due to technical and other difficulties, we were unable to keep up with the email, and it was discontinued on the new CCMW website.

The third and fourth papers were also posted on the GTA discussion forum, the third, "Long-Term Strategies" was written in the aftermath of the Toronto Seventeen, which shocked many people within the Muslim community and without. I presented a very brief summary of it at an event organized by the Canadian Islamic Congress. The fourth paper was written with the 2006 WISE conference in New York in mind, in which I also presented very briefly. It builds on the "Shari'a Tribunals" paper and some of the responses I received for the "Women Imams" paper, particularly those of Hina Azam and Imam Zayd, which were well written and argued. The paper is entitled "How 'Islamic' is “Sharia law in relation to women?: Three cases in which the Qur’an was overruled by Sunna, Ijmaa or Qiyaas."

I further develop some of the ideas in these papers, they should be considered 'work in progress.' For now, I hope they stimulate some interesting discussions and you will post your feedback here in the "GTA Forum".

Nevin Reda
 

• Introduction
• Women Leadership
• Shari'a Tribunals
• Long-Term Strategies
• How "Islamic" is "Shari'a" law in relation to women?: Three cases in which the Qur'an was overruled by Sunna, Ijmaa or Qiyas

The GTA forum is a project of CCMW’s Mississauga Chapter. It is an interactive web space set up to encourage a community discussion around issues surrounding women and religion.

GTA Forum Rules and Etiquettes:

1. No Advertising. The GTA Forum discussion board can be used only in a non-commercial manner. You cannot post messages containing any solicitation of funds, advertising or solicitation of goods or services.

2. Do not post material that is protected by copyright, such as complete articles copied from another source, unless you are the copyright holder or have the author's permission. Fair use generally allows the posting of small excerpts.

3. We encourage lively discussion and debate but remember that disagreeing with an idea is different from attacking an individual. In that spirit, do not post messages that contain personal attacks against other individuals. Messages and materials that are defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive or illegal are strictly prohibited.

4. Do not post anything on the GTA Forum discussion board that you would not want made public or that you would not want anyone to know came from you.

5. When posting, please keep your comments consistent with the subject and purpose of the thread of discussion.

6. CCMW Mississauga Chapter, reserves the right to deny access to discussion board or remove the posting privileges of members who violate the Rules and Etiquette requirements.

7. Although we do not and cannot review every message posted on the GTA Forum discussion board, and we are not responsible for the content of these messages, we reserves the right to delete, move or edit messages that we deem abusive, defamatory, obscene, or otherwise unacceptable.

ENTER GTA FORUM

Community Outreach: Our first project was a “Storytelling & Bake Sale Event” held on March 24, 2007 at Brampton’s Terry Miller Recreation Centre.  The feature storyteller was Rukhsana Khan, author of several published children’s books.  The event was a great success. Attendance was excellent, thanks to our marketing team. The bake sale brought much needed funds to our meager savings account.  Most importantly, the event enabled us to present CCMW’s mission and goals to the local community.

Networking: Our members participated in several community events in Toronto this year (2007). In March, we attended a Gala Dinner at the Valhalla Inn, honoring recipients of various scholarships, including the Lila Fahlman Scholarship. On June 5, we joined a “Protest Rally” at Queens Park, organized by the Community Social Services. Various community service groups spoke up against ‘budget cuts’ for essential community services, by the Ontario Government. And, on June 9, 2007, we participated in the “Train the Trainer Workshop” at the Renaissance Hotel, arranged by Equal Voices. Speakers from three levels of government offered invaluable tips on how to conduct training sessions for members who aspire to enter the political arena.

Education: Two of our members conducted a “Public Speaking Workshop” on eight consecutive Sundays, June through July 2007. The workshop was jointly sponsored by Noor Cultural Centre and Brampton Toastmasters Club. Several CCMW members were amongst the sixteen participants.  Participants learned the rudiments of public speaking and leadership skills and had ample practice in speaking ‘off the cuffs’. We are proud to announce that a Brampton member was the Second Place Winner at a speech contest held during the final session. Congratulations to Adeela Qureshi!

CCMW 2007 Conference: Brampton Chapter is one of the “host chapters” for the upcoming CCMW Conference to be held at the Noor Cultural Centre, Toronto, on October 27-28, 2007. Presently, our members are working closely with Toronto, Peel and the National Board in preparation for this event.

Future Plans: Our team has focused on two on-going projects for 2008. First, we plan to set up a special ‘service’ for seniors through a ‘buddy system’ between our seniors and our youths. This project is designed to help improve our seniors’ quality of life. Second, we intend to organize several “Educational Sessions” for young parents and new immigrants. Discussion topics would include: Coping with a new school system, parenting skills, health issues and oral communication skills.

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