OTTAWA – A prominent cross-denominational Muslim NGO – known for its active rejection of extremism – has chosen Toronto for its western headquarters.
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Speaking at a press conference on Parliament Hill this week, Imam Mohammad Tawhidi of the Global Imams Council (GIC) said the new Toronto HQ will be a means for the organization to continue their work.
“This will be our hub to continue and extend our international work promoting interfaith dialog and respectful interfaith cooperation and pursuit of our shared interests – peace, international recognition, and mutual acceptance,” said Tawhidi, who is better known on social media as the Imam of Peace.
“We fully and wholly reject violence, extremism and Islamism in all its forms, and we maintain that Islamism as an ideology is a misrepresentation and corruption of the true Islamic faith, which is based on peace and acceptance,” he added.
The GIC is comprised of faith leaders and scholars of all Islamic sects, and actively advocates against Islamic extremism and promotes peaceful and meaningful relations with Israel.
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In a statement issued in October, the GIC applauded Canada’s decision to declare Vancouver-based Samidoun as a terrorist organization.
“Samidoun’s active presence in Canada, coupled with its direct ties to other groups already designated as terrorist organizations under Canada’s criminal code, poses a clear and present danger to the Muslim community and the wider public,” the statement read.
“This group’s activities, which promote extremism and glorify terrorism, threaten to undermine the moral and ethical values we seek to instill in our communities.”
GIC have likewise publicly condemned Hamas, this August’s bomb threats targeting Canadian Jews, and October’s funeral prayers at a few Canadian mosques honouring dead terror boss Yahya Sinwar.
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Spadina-Fort York MP Kevin Vuong, who hosted this week’s press conference, said the time’s come for Canada to stop tolerating public displays of hatred.
“We must stop tolerating the intolerant and giving credence to a loud and hateful minority who neither represent their ethnic community nor their faith,” he told the Toronto Sun.
“In the dangerous vacuum that has been created by the Trudeau government’s inaction, civil society, religious leaders, and peace-loving Canadians are standing up – I am proud to stand with the Global Imams Council and other organizations who refuse to bow to hate.”
“Together, we will fight for the peaceful and tolerant country that we all knew and love,” Vuong added.
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