Shahina Siddiqui

Shahina Siddiqui is Executive Director of the Islamic Social Services Association (ISSA) of the United States and Canada, a charitable organization which works to further religious knowledge of Islam; serve Muslims, Muslim communities, and others in the fields of social services and mental health; provide consultation and mediation for social services and agencies dealing with Muslims; and establish an institute for social work and counseling based on principles of Islamic faith.

Siddiqui sits on the Advisory Board of CAIR-CAN, the Canadian branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, and is the principal author of ""Women Friendly Mosques and Community Centers: Working Together to Reclaim Our Heritage", a widely-distributed CAIR brochure. Siddiqui is a columnist for the Winnipeg Sun and a frequent commentator on Canadian television regarding Islamic and gender issues and Middle East politics. Some of her views on the Arab-Israeli conflict are set out in a 2000 Calgary Sun article, "No Peace in Islam Without Justice". [http://www.caircan.ca/aa_more.php?id=A113_0_3_0_M]

Human rights proceedings

In Febuary 2004 Siddiqui filed a formal complant of racism with the Manitoba Human Rights Commission against B'nai Brith Canada for having cosponsored a conference for first responders to acts of terrorism, such as police, firefighters or paramedics. Although Siddiqui did not attend the conference, her complaint alleged that, based on comments she had received from some in attendance, the content of the seminar presented a negative prejudice about Muslims in terms of being probable terrorists, which would encourage and support racial profiling by first responders and law-enforcement agencies dealing with possible terrorist incidents. No ruling on the complaint has yet been issued. [http://www.nationalpost.com/related/links/story.html?id=755930]

In May 2006 Siddiqui filed an unsuccessful formal complaint of racism against several Winnipeg Jewish community groups who cosponsored the movie "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West", which she saw as hate speech.

External links

* [http://www.issausa.org/ Islamic Social Services Association]
* [http://www.cair-net.org/pdf/intro.pdf "Women Friends Mosques & Community Centers" (pdf report)]
* [http://www.soundvision.com/Info/socialservice/shahina.asp Interview with Shahina Siddiqui]
* [http://www.winnipegsun.com/News/Columnists/Siddiqui_Shahina/ Winnipeg Sun columns by Siddiqui]
* [http://www.caircan.ca/aa_more.php?id=A113_0_3_0_M "No Peace in Islam Without Justice" (Calgary Sun)]
* [http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2006/05/29/mb-obsession-20060529.html formal complaint]