12:00 am to 11:45 pm
Add to calendar
Ismaili Centre Toronto
49 Wynford Drive Toronto M3C 1K1 Canada

The Women’s Portfolio for the Ismaili Council of Ontario in partnership with the Canadian Council of Muslim Women – Toronto Chapter (CCMW – Toronto) and Muslim Awards for Excellence, Women in Leadership (MAX WIL) came together for our first Iftar collaboration at the Ismaili Centre, Toronto.

The evening’s event was titled, “How Women Shape Society: Nourishing our Minds and Bodies this Ramadan”. This was the third event that the Ismaili Council for Ontario has hosted in collaboration with CCMW - Toronto, and the first partnership with MAX WIL.

The event was attended by over 150 guests and was opened with a beautiful recitation from the Holy Quran by Shaima Sakha. President Sheherazade Hirji welcomed the guests with her institutional welcome address followed by a Keynote Speech by the Honourable Iqra Khalid, Member of Parliament (Mississauga-Erin Mills).  The audience was then moved by a Spoken Word piece by artist Frishta Bastan. Her piece titled, “You say the shape of my eyes don’t look the same as yours” poetically illustrated how the racism, genocide and violence Hazara people face in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran over the decades has been an ongoing problem. Her performance ended up with a positive saying - to focus on similarities rather than one’s differences. Following the spoken word performance, MPP Doly Begum gave an address to the audience and the esteemed panel was introduced.

The panel consisted of the Honourable Iqra Khalid, Member of Parliament (Mississauga-Erin Mills); Rabia Khedr, the Founder of the Canadian Alliance on Race and Disability, Executive Director of the Muslim Council of Peel and CEO of DEEN Support Services; Fatimah Jackson-Best, Public Health Researcher (specialization in Mental Health focusing on communities in Canada and the Caribbean) and Project Manager Pathways to Care and Alia Youssef, Award-Winning Artist and Freelance Photographer (famously known for her series of The Sister’s Project). These four speakers contributed in a lively panel discussion that was dynamically moderated by Naheed Mustafa, Award-Winning Producer, Writer & Broadcaster, CBC.

Following the panel discussion, the audience had the opportunity for a Question and Answer period with the panellists. The evening concluded with the breaking of the fast with dates and water, a second Spoken Word Performance by artist Key Ballah and was followed by dinner and networking with guests and the speakers.