Eighteenth Annual Conference of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women

Abstract

"Strengthening Our Voices" was a fitting topic for the most recent Canadian
Council of Muslim Women (CCMW) conference held on September 13-15,
2002, at the Bank of Montreal Learning Institute, Markham, Ontario,
Canada. This national organization, with chapters across Canada, was
founded in 1982 when Muslim women from across Canada attended the
founding conference in Winnipeg, Manitoba. This year's conference celebrated
20 years of leadership and "working towards equity, equality, and
empowerment." Lila Falhman, a founding member and now 78 years old,
was on hand to commemorate the event. Other founding members, current
CCMW president Barbara Siddiqui, and many local chapter leaders also
were present. The Bank of Montreal Learning Institute in Markham was the
perfect venue, for it allowed almost 300 people to hear the keynote speakers.
Tables were set up for silent auction and sales of the latest books by
Farid £sack, Sadia Zaman, and Khaled Abou El Fad!.
The invited keynote speaker, Beverly Amina McCloud, professor at De
Paul University, (Chicago, IL) unfortunately could not attend. Graciously
taking her place, however, was Sheila McDonough, professor of religion at
Concordia University (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) and author of the
recently released The Muslim Veil in North America: Issues and Debates
(University of Toronto Press: 2002.) She engaged the audience in a lively
discussion of the philosophical question "Can a Muslim Woman Think?"
She logically argued that genetics are evenly distributed to offspring, so that
women receive intellect from both parents; that children think as they learn;
and that, in general, all homo sapiens are thinking creatures. She used several
Qur'anic verses to demonstrate that God addresses women as a group
separately from men and also stressed that everyone is responsible for his
or her own actions on the Day of Judgment ...