Monday 31 December 2018

Winter poem

The winter
In its beauty of snow art
This solstice reminds me 
Of the longest night like the first night in prison
Hope you enjoy whatever you are celebrating!


The new year brings with it rebirth
Like the new born baby
When she first arrived in her mother’s arms
Reminds me of baby powder lingering

The birthday of Christ
The Santa jingles
Sweet gingerbread out of the oven
Reminds of the warmth of my first childhood gift

The coming of the next One Love
The excitement of who gets on stage
Who wears the best
Reminds me the tears of freedom so unique!

The strength in our diversity
Like each snowflake so different
Reminds me this wonderful idea called service
Like the Light it never asks for anything; but Megwich!

Sunday 9 December 2018

whispersofkaieteur: Taste of Essequibo River

whispersofkaieteur: Taste of Essequibo River: Taste of Essequibo River Habeeb Alli Dec 09 2018 So late I called your name in dreams Laid bare on caskets of memories T...

Taste of Essequibo River


Taste of Essequibo River
Habeeb Alli
Dec 09 2018


So late
I called your name in dreams
Laid bare on caskets of memories
The lavender rush at Christmas


Such lavish thoughts sought
Like wine drunk behind bars
By men who served country
The gates of the Lighthouse left half open

I see your smiles have not diminished
Only aged by sweet laughter kneaded with ginger and rum
Once you talked like a child in love
Now isn’t that Santa with a donkey cart out of Leguan?

People in Essequibo I visited
The thought of Cinderella country reminded me of you
How come Amerindians suffer suicide and the Indians have rice?
Where is the Blacks of Queenstown buried after Damon died?

This episode of togetherness
The once celebrated ride on open speedboats
Taken away by curtains and cellphones
I wish the openness of the lavender on rough Atlantic!

Season greetings they wish silently
Like an imprisoned murderer on death row
I shout Merry Christmas because my mother taught me so
I get the worse Trump that you could get- you don’t believe in Jesus Christ!

Yesterday I stayed in the Garden City
I wander from pillar to post wishing your sight again
Under the Peepal tree with a book logged between your lips
But the seawall broke down and a century and half of six races went frenzy

When will this craziness of shopping and gifting end? Giftland so North!
The dance to parang and sweet pepper pot should be the calendar year
End the hatred of who not to invite to the masquerade band- its free
Let mad bull and Mother Sally sell us sweet lies till morning come!

In Toronto, I stand on snow banks looking for Northern lights
The sleigh filled with forgiveness, mercy for humanity and end of wars
I strained myself lifting mounds of snow so I can see clearly the skies
I was told by First Nation elders- the ocean and animals are my family!



Friday 23 November 2018

Masjid Khalid- The Golden Grove Odyssey, Guyana


Masjid Khalid- The Golden Grove Odyssey, Guyana

Habeeb Alli

Nov 23rd 2018

Toronto

I was walking down Water Street near vendors Arcade in Georgetown in 1992. I had just returned from India, with a Masters in Islamic Theology but working in Advertising. A young man in his kufi shouted out Salam alaikum greetings only to share with me the astonishing fact that where he lives in golden Grove ECD is a mosque that was defunct and a pig sty and party house!

That began my odyssey with the rebuilding of the Golden Grove mosque in Guyana.
This was AbdurRaheem Douglas, still a practicing Muslim and current leader of the Muslim community of the predominantly Afro Guyanese village of Golden.

Presently rebuilt by the concerted efforts of many generous Muslims locally and abroad. That started last year 2017 and miraculously, given the lesser known fact of its existence, has completed and now the opening is on Sunday Dec 2nd 2018. Thanks to Imam Zahir Hussain of London fir his extreme kindness.

However, it was the late contractor Khalid Khan from the Georgetown who took up the initiative to rebuild the mosque in 1992 using materials and man power from Queenstown mosque. The discovery of the mosque sitting idle in the midst of the seawall side in North Golden Grove on the market goes to former Police Commander Omar Glasgow, who had his officers remove cows and animals from the premises then. He was looking for a place to pray Fajr and couldn’t bear the shameful discovery!
We named the mosque Masjid Khalid after he passed away in an accident on his way to build Lethem mosque in 2000.

But how did this place of worship for over fifteen percent of Guyanese ended up in such rut, unnoticed and unsolicited?

The late Imam Hyderali from Logwood mosque relates that this beautiful House of God was built in 1962 and habituated by Muslims in Golden Grove, Cove and John and Clonbrook East Coast Demerara. However, during the 1964 racial riots, before Independence, the East Indians were forced to leave behind their properties and seek safety in places like Enmore, Annandale, Mackenzie, etc. Note that while majority Africans came as Muslims during slavery, the roots of Islam were lost and the indentured Muslims of India that followed were allowed to keep their faith, hence the term Fullaman!

The mosque was fire bombed during the riots and remained roofless during all these years! It was every man's island!

When AbdurRaheem and myself, I lived in nearby Enmore, first visited the august edifice on a Sunday afternoon, we had to fetch water from the nearby trench, with the help of the ever kind neighbor next door, and wash the Azan stand and a spot inside to pray Magrib. The rest of the following nine months was between continuously washing a spot to pray, inviting the people to the awareness of Islam and soliciting assistance from far and wide in the reconstruction of the Mosque. A beautiful community was born!

It was such an awe-inspiring moment when I returned this year during Eid ul Adha to see familiar faces who either took shahada on my hands or whose nikah was conducted by me in the most austere circumstances.

Today the mosque has been rebuilt with equally decent quarters for the sisters, a huge outdoors tent, an Imam’s home, and a beautiful architecture that suits the environment and the friendliness of the community.

Thanks to the newly arrived scholar Imam Luqman, the son of the Musa, a formidable pioneer in the early Dawah, the generosity and knowledge of the community has grown exponentially. Special thanks to our founder AbdurRaheem Douglas and his family Karen who have kept the Faith among the sisters and families alive, despite the remarkable challenges. This family was specially taught by Imam Hyderali before he migrated to Canada.

As the late Haji Hyderali would say during handing over the trusteeship to the late Shafi Foreman that this legacy is meant for Golden Grove and will always be Golden because love and faith were the seeds this mosque was founded on in 1962, watered with blood, sweat and tears!

Salam alaikum! An example of peace building in the Jonestown famous and election frenzy country in South America called Guyana!



Friday 16 November 2018

Islamic History Pearls


Islamic History Pearls
Habeeb Alli
Nov 16 2018

How beautiful is your necklace?
The pearls set upon each other
Like the Borealis dancing on the Northern sky
Such is my history of Islam, Oh Canada

I’m not referring to the magnificent Kaba in Mecca
Or the grandeur of the Taj Mahal in India
But the likes of Malala and Ilhan Omar, if you know what I mean
Sisters still can’t go to school or join politics without prejudice

Yet we speak of Andalusia and Mali
Forgetting these civilizations came before Enlightenment
And women taught Imam Bukhari and founded Kairouan University in 859
Since all he wanted, on whom be peace, was to free the girls from mental slavery

Canada recognised Oct as the official Islamic History Month
That our diversity is our strength
That Maryam from Afghanistan could be a MP
And the first mosque rose on the brows of Lebanese Christian and Muslims in Edmonton

Why then do we still have Indigenous girls missing?
Why so many of our sisters are incarcerated?
Why Black brothers are going to prison?
And wars are fought on the streets of Dixon?

Because we have forgotten our identity
And the loss of a people begins in the erasing of their language
But in Canada you could be anything and read Atwood and Ruksana in the same library
Iqra was Malcolm X passport to freedom and that’s the Sunnah to read that’s missing!
On whom be peace

So let’s face it!
Only in Canada can you have an officer in hijab uniform
Only in Toronto could you embrace 190 ethnic forms
You could order poutine and ask for butter chicken as topping!



Sunday 11 November 2018

Toronto hosts Power of Love conference!


Parliament of World Religions held in Toronto: the world class Interfaith city
Power of love!

Habeeb Ali

Nov 11th 2018

We remember!

I had the honor of presenting for the second time at the Parliament- a 100-year-old Interfaith Institution- on my work as a Chaplain as well as my community engagement work with Toronto’s interfaith bodies. It was indeed a satisfying experience given that Toronto was host to such a global family of some 80 countries from 220 spiritual paths.

One of the many intriguing wisdom shared by my fellow panelists was the strong sense of peace each faith provides to its followers- the Swami from Hollywood whose Vedanta teachings has impacted thousands of lives and so has the Buddhist Monk Dr. Saranpala from Toronto Mindfulness program and the Satya Sai spiritualist from India influence of love by Dr. Redding. Islam itself means peace and from that derives Salam which means peace. Not always is this the story. Our deliberate efforts over the past decades to share the beauty of our faith in Toronto’s 190 ethnicities makes this world class city unique.


From right inset are Interfaith Panelists Dr. Bhante Saranpala, Imam Habeeb Alli, Swami Sarvadevananda, Dr. Narendranath Reddy, and Anupom Ganguli.

It so happened that the 7500 attendees at the conference weren’t only treated to the wisdoms and music of the many spiritual and religious persuasions but concrete ways communities have engaged in peace building. That weekend Nov 1st to 7th thousands joined hands in creating Rings of Peace around synagogues after the Pittsburgh terror attack by a white supremacist. The Ring of Protection was actually started by a group of us- Imams, Rabbis and Pastors when the same brutal fate was meted out to six worshippers at the Quebec Mosque last year.

Among the dynamic speakers that represented Toronto are Dr. Hamid Slimi for his on going work with Rabbis and Pastors in seeing to the creation of a better world, Dr. AbueLaish Ezzeldin for winning the peace prize after he forgave the killer of his two daughters in Palestine, Dr. Shabbir Ally for his work with the city synagogues,and churches in Interfaith dialogue, Shaikh Imran Ally and Dr AbdulHai Patel for their historic work at the Ontario Multi-faith Council and Margaret Atwood for her unapologetic attitude towards the deniers of social justice and climate change.

When we look at how Toronto sits on the lands of the First Nations and we inherit a land of treaty and occupiers we cannot help admire how much  a strong and respectful presence the elders and youths of the Indigenous people  were afforded at the Parliament- including keynotes and smudge ceremonies and accountability of the Truths and Reconciliation commission. I was touched that the stories shared by young change makers on their journey from trauma to making a better world reminds me as a new immigrant to Canada that I must not sit idle in ignorance whilst enjoying the fruits of our ancestors and not contributing positively towards the alleviation of the First Peoples’ suffering. I was had actually invited Elders to do the smudging ceremony in our One Love Galas more than once and invited  the leader of the Missing Aboriginal Women of Manitoba to address our Ramadan dinner last year because building bridges between Muslims and First Nations is crucial.

Back to where we started- the seven-days convention at Metro Convention Centre ended with plenaries and the beautiful dance of one of the many persons I met during the blessed Langar- the Sikhs provided daily free lunches.  The Parliament was the meeting of many faces, many hugs, many traditions, and many more Holi colors but like a dance executed with refinement- we are all just one family living together on mother Earth and Peace is our only glue or we will perish!

As Rumi said: Leave the Circle of Time and Enter the Circle of Love!

Sunday 28 October 2018

Journey to Guyana: Children of Sugar!


Sugar worker’s children continue to be victims of unemployment in Guyana.

Habeeb Alli

Oct 27 2018

The continuous onslaught on the sugar workers in Guyana on finding meaningful employment after the cruel closure of the sugar estates has forced many to abandon their places of residence in pursuit of livelihood. Others are still awaiting their complete severance pays whilst some have taken their lives unfortunately as a way out of this sudden abject poverty. Out of this crisis a small band of volunteers have arisen to rise to the call to prepare lunches for school children who were forced to be absent from school. They call themselves Service to Humanity and have registered their entity to serve the underprivileged children in Skeldon Guyana. Their motto therefore is today’s children tomorrow’s future!

I happen to be invited to support their cause since February and have raised awareness and funds for the scholarships as well as daily feeding program for some two hundred and fifty students. I recently visited the volunteers and students and was impressed with their level of dedication as well as the support they have received including the American Embassy humanitarian body and that of the Guyana Islamic Trust and NACOSSA.

Canadians have responded kindly during Ramadan and during Qurbani to continue serving these children regardless of race or religion. It is heartening to receive beautiful cards from kindergarten students as well as from high schoolers saying thank you. The meals are prepared by volunteers and the main founder and coordinator has given her painstaking time and care towards these children. She is Shanta Youngkam and the light in the lives of the many beneficiaries. The Service to Humanity group is hoping that the Guyana government would return the workers to meaningful jobs and end the apparent discrimination against East Indians- the main workers and beneficiaries of the sugar cane industry-  started by the British Imperialist in the West Indies.

The number of meals have passed the five thousand mark since February and a few scholarships. Among some other humanitarian efforts, the group have helped with includes medical outreach in collaboration with HAPS and CIOG as well as outreach to the Albion Orphanage in Berbice and that in Enmore ECD. Even the East Canje seniors have benefited from the Qurbani program.

However, there has been one incident that the newly formed volunteer humanitarians have stepped up to and that is the families of the fishermen attack. Earlier this year some twenty-five fishermen were victims of a gruesome attack at sea and many lost their lives. Many of the families have been struggling with young families without a livelihood and more so they are traumatised. The group have consistently assisted with hampers etc. with such individual cases.

The highlight of the services rendered by Service to Humanity is to ensure students regardless of background get ample support to continue their education for with education anything is possible. It was sweet sugar cane sweat that fed the echelons of Guyanese society with scholars and professionals and of course Presidents and Prime Ministers. Let us not give upon them, not yet.

Malcolm X was the greatest American and in the walls of prison he gained an unparalleled level of education that made him received an honorary doctorate- he said Education is the passport to success!


                                           https://servicetohumanitytcof.wordpress.com/

Monday 30 July 2018

Media Release:-1838 Gala: Brown Sugar


Media Release

2018-07-30

Re: One Love Media presents 1838 Gala: Brown Sugar-  A Fundraiser for Children of Guyana

Friday Aug 17th   at 7:00 pm at Elite Banquet Hall 1850 Albion Rd Toronto

Celebrate the Presence of the East Indian arrival to Guyana as Indentured labourers on the sugar plantations of British Guiana in 1838. Slavery of Africans ended in 1834. A historic year for sugar when new labourers arrived from India. A new history in the making of Guyana and the contributions of both Muslims and Hindus will be highlighted!

Today sugar workers are laid off after the recent closing of sugar factories in Guyana. Their children's future is bleak without basic food and financial support to educate them. More sugar workers commit suicide besides the social ills of losing one’s job in Guyanese male dominated society.

The funds raised will continue supporting the 250 poor students in Skeldon- through Service to Humanity- a registered NGO- towards the new school year- with free lunches every day and back to school supplies for September.

Also we will be doing Qurbani in Guyana and using it to feed the children- strictly lamb. We will continue to support the poor families- like the families of the piracy attack in Berbice river during April this year leaving ten devastated families, etc.

We are adding the Orphanage in Albion Berbice as an additional recipient this time.

Keynote Speaker is Dr. Mohan Ragbeer, Pathologist and notable writer from Guyana who will be speaking to the theme of the contribution of the East Indians to the sugar economy of Guyana since 1838! 

We will be honoring two young Guyanese living in Canada as an inspiration to the youths of Guyana- MPP Sara Singh- the politician and Aftab Maxi Shamsudden- the cricketer!

Entertainment includes live performances by Naaz Khan of Trinidad plus Karan Singh and Dj Slim Robin Mohamed of Guyana!

For more information contact
Habeeb Alli
416 823 1738

Sunday 22 July 2018

Rumi turning ecstatic


Rumi turning ecstatic


I saw in your eyes
The revelation of a thousand songs
Fireflies have martyred themselves
Into the night where you belong

Why this fast that reveals nothing
Sip from the tavern and read
The eyes are the window to the soul
I saw innermost self on fire

When you crawl around this modernity
You kill the wings every human was born with
Because the lion lives with lambs
The courage to face adversity

Was loss long before the roar was learnt
Sip slowly from the spring of inner peace
The knowledge you gain by silence
Outweighs the scholars ink and keys

I know your time is spent on smart phones
Your strokes are recorded for impunity
Yet like Rumi was lost in Shams Tabrezi enrapture
He wrote nothing yet his heart memorized each wisdom

This night is too long
The love has gone wrong
Why would Divine love find carnal expression?
What makes a European wed a Trinidadian

What gives color to the rainbow colors
This fascination with life is cheap
By death we learn to live yet we run
I know your days are like jewels in a glass

The Kohinoor was taken and placed on her Royal Highness
Yet the head now has tea with the slave child
Let the dreams of imagination run wild
Only in the dug up ground could wildflowers grow

Only when your pain is embraced will you see
Creator is another name for Om and Allah
The universe is just a spot in the galaxies of His creation
Yet you strut about as if you will preside forever

Even Pharaoh and Hitler didn't escape the angel of destruction
What sweetness you emit from these wicked stares
That fragrance the mountains of Kush couldn't bear
Nowadays the Abraham of yesterday is born weak

I see fathers and mothers make children who will cross barriers
This time of unease is the souls stirring
The name I call on has no language
The thrust of the Niagara is so powerful

Yet a man walks over like a child on bicycle
The contortionist swings through the taut rope like a butterfly
I think with these prayers you will find nirvana still
Cause your search is more important than your findings!




Saturday 28 April 2018

Reflections of Van Attack: Terror on Yonge St

The call came in like broken tasbeehs
One after the other 9 1 1 rang
White van crushing pedestrians
The world waited to hear Muslim terrorist on rampage

I stuck my hopes on the emptiness of media prejudice
Things turned out not the way most hoped
The carnage that filled Yonge and Finch
Fam I was just there with Hasan Minhaj the other night!

Is terror of a white van not terrorism?
I reverted to reflect on InCel
How could  Zulaikha lived through Yusuf's rejection?
Didn't she put him in jail and had the girls cutting?


But the racist Jahillya needs a new rant
A terrorist in white van
Is a terrorist no matter the whiteness
Isn't this stupid stuck on stupidness?

But wait
That heroic act of the officer
That Interfaith vigil like Spring flower
That fundraiser gone viral - All destroy this terrorist's power.




Friday 20 April 2018

#HumboldtStrong

Sorry to hear of this tragedy
Youths and teens loss so crazily
With dreams and laughter they shot their puck
Hockey moms wail while carnage fill our sanity

What a beautiful thing it could be
Loss of lives awakens generosity
People from hockey loves and disbelievers together
On the platform of giving charity

So is the course of life
If you look at the glass half empty
You lose a child and family
But half full gives you  hockey players from faraway Cities!

Friday 13 April 2018

Isra and Meraj- Ascension of Muhammad teaches us to rise up to causes!

Holy is He Who carried His servant by night from the Holy Mosque (in Makka) to the farther Mosque (in Jerusalem) - whose surroundings We have blessed - that We might show him some of Our signs 1. Indeed He alone is All-Hearing, All-Seeing. (Quran 17:1)

The ascension is what inspires me to rise to the call of duty every day. Why is that so? The fact that the Prophet Muhammad, on whom be peace, was beginning to feel the weight of the mission in Mecca and needed some respite or inspiration around the ninth year after Prophethood is the raison d'etre of Isra and Meraj. What did Allah provide for him to continue fueling his drive? It was this miraculous journey into the heavens visiting his comrades like Prophet Musa and Ibrahim who had very similar challenges from a disbelieving people. He was so inspired that he returned within the night rejuvenated and ready to continue spreading the word of God among the Quresh despite their brutal racism against him and His Companions.

I think today when we are called to serve humanity and share the love of Islam through our humanitarian deed as called Zakat and Fitra and Qurbani and Sadqa we have to rise to the occasion and this will be our Meraj and Isra. Ascension to the heavens can be done just here without the miraculous Buraq and travel to Jerusalem in the night by sacrificing a bit of our worldly possessions so that we let a human live, let a child breathe, let a mother eat and let humanity survive in dignity once more. Malala, our shero, just thought us that and we are lucky to have her in Canada on Meraj and Isra fighting for girls education worldwide!





Sunday 28 January 2018

Quebec Massacre Commemoration: A time to invest in people

As I think of those who loss their lives whilst praying in the mosque in Quebec a year ago, today, I'm reminded that Canada is the best country in the world to live in, however, we are a work in progress.
As we celebrated the Canada 150 throughout last year we aimed in our celebrations to invite First Nations and people from different faiths and races. Not only Muslims. As I just concluded the first One Love Cruise I am blessed to have people from from all faiths and nationalities aboard the beautiful Carnival cruise. The power of love is the only thing that seems to fight deadly racism, one white supremacist who converted to Islam said to me just after the Quebec tragedy! I am working on a documentary to share his story with the world!

I am not oblivious to the deliberate policies that divide us and those who are intent to follow suit the tweets that aim to denigrate us.

What is true, however, is that little funds are placed upon investing in people. More funds are for research and political promotions, besides in exorbitant buildings in the name of worship.

As chaplain I see men and women worry about suicide, delayed justice, immigration detentions prolonged, divided families, racism in its raw form, homophobia, anti Aboriginal and Black racism among other ugliness. So to hear the ringing cries of Islamophobia from Quebec last year, the day after we just celebrated One Love Gala for the successful reintegration of inmates, and the day before our Interfaith musical at a church with a Rabbi, shocked me first and made me angry after.

Knowing that it's like pulling teeth to fund programs and faith based work in our communities. It's easier to get buy a blunt and legally smoke in front our children now than to ask for funds to invest in the spiritual and social wellness of our youths.

A young man walked into my office this week just to share his grief of a young cousin who died from suicide. He lost three friends similarity! A girl who I had known for years in Ottawa doing fabulous community service revealed in an email on Launchgood I read last night that she has been on suicide watch since last year. I feel incredibly sad and yet I continue to beat the road of Interfaith knowing that the interactions of different races and faiths and sexuality is what will destroy racism and stop more Muslims from being killed. However, the police reports in Canada demonstrates differently. More people have increasingly been victims of Islamophobia and Antisemitism of recent.

I ask where is the funding and the resources to make people feel like family and neighbors again? Not with increased poverty. We see Muslims operating more food banks and volunteering together against homelessness or venturing into unchatterered waters on many aspect of socio-economic fronts and not only on Rohingya and Palestine but it's not debunking the myths as fast as we wish.

It's time to stop crying wolf and make every act of racism me too- invest in people and not tweets!
One Love Cruise family Jan 2018

Join us Mar 3rd for the 6th One Love Gala as we help others make this a better world by the power of love!

Onelove150.com

One Love Day

Media Release
Jan 6/2018
Re: Apex Consulting Greater Toronto One Love Gala
One Love Gala 2018: The Power of Love
The One Love gala was inspired by Bob Marley’s song one love!
Some six years ago, when diversity chaplaincy was under threat, thanks to a Minister who thought otherwise, I was sitting distraught and this song was playing. I thought to myself that we must have an event that both celebrates our work with those incarcerated and advocates for the continuation of this crucial service. The name suited it so much as interfaith leaders and people from all walks of life joined us for an evening of much love! This year’s 6th anniversary will be held on Sat Mar 6th at Elite Banquet Hall 1850 Albion Rd Toronto with chief guest Shaikh Riad Ourzazi.
Those incarcerated gets a second chance in Canada. That is the very teachings of our Faiths. We live and let others live. Chaplains do not sit in the jury box. They are there with a compassionate heart and a listening ear, holding hands with the men and women who approach them for spiritual direction, throughout their journey.
Many such individuals have passed the boundaries of the prisons and have reintegrated into society successfully. Their stories inspire those who aspire to change. We must honor them in their journey. For many, these transformative years have renewed their faith and given them a chance to forgive.
To make a theme that speaks to our mental crisis- we say:  The Power of Love!
First Nations are a crucial foundation of Canada and world politics. We can only learn to love if we are prepared to forgive. We are letting the stories of diversity chaplains, successful inmates and Interfaith communities serenade us with Four Awards- the Malcolm X, Tayyibah Taylor, Ghulam Sajan and Lyla Ali awards that nite!
Dress Code: formal Gala wear.
Color theme: Red, Black and White
After party theme: #HAVEFUN!
Hash tag: #ThePowerOfLove
Thank You
Co Chair and Founder
Habeeb Alli

416 823 1738