FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TORONTO, March 20, 2010 – The North American Spiritual Revival (NASR) condemns yesterday’s act of vandalism against the Waterloo mosque of the Muslim Society of Waterloo and Wellington Counties. On Friday, the walls of the local Waterloo mosque were spray-painted with offensive symbols and slogans and windows were broken in the women’s prayer area.

“Acts of vandalism or hate against any house of worship must be soundly condemned” said Dr. Khuram Rajput, President of NASR. “As a pluralistic society, Canadians must work together to encourage positive dialogue among us all and to discourage acts of hate.”

The NASR calls upon local security officials to swiftly investigate and bring the individuals responsible for this hate crime to justice. This has been the second publicly reported attack on an Islamic place
of worship in the GTA in two months.

pdf version available here

Assalamu Alaikum,

As you all know, a massive earthquake has struck the Caribbean island of Haiti.

The earthquake struck at 5pm local time on Tuesday 12th January 2010 and people have been on the streets without food and water for days. The epicentre of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake was just 16 kilometres from the capital Port-au-Prince. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere and struggles with endemic poverty, food shortages and violence Much of the city is made up of slums and poorly constructed houses that would not be able to withstand an earthquake.

Tens of Thousands are people have been presumed dead, misplaced and/or are severely injured!

The magnitude of the disaster is not yet known, all lines of communication are currently down. However, there have been reports that homes, government buildings and hotels have collapsed and many people are still being dug out of the rubble. Hospitals are struggling to cope with the large numbers of injured people and there is an urgent need for emergency medical care, food, clean water and shelter. In addition several strong aftershocks have caused further chaos and panic to set in.

As a community and as individuals living the western world with the ability to give, it’s required of us to give to the victims of this disaster. North American Spiritual Revival (NASR) supports this effort of giving and encourages our members to give generously.

“Those who spend their wealth (in Allah’s Cause) by night and day, in secret and in public, they shall have their reward with their Lord. On them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.” Surah al Baqarah, Ayat 274 (2:274)

Islamic Relief Canada has launched an appeal for $1 million to respond to the disaster. Please donate now at http://www.islamicreliefcanada.org/