Eighteenth Annual Conference of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women

"Strengthening Our Voices" was a fitting topic for the most recent CanadianCouncil 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, wasfounded in 1982 when Muslim women from across Canada attended thefounding conference in Winnipeg, Manitoba. This year's conference celebrated20 years of leadership and "working towards equity, equality, andempowerment." Lila Falhman, a founding member and now 78 years old,was on hand to commemorate the event. Other founding members, currentCCMW president Barbara Siddiqui, and many local chapter leaders alsowere present. The Bank of Montreal Learning Institute in Markham was theperfect 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 byFarid £sack, Sadia Zaman, and Khaled Abou El Fad!.The invited keynote speaker, Beverly Amina McCloud, professor at DePaul University, (Chicago, IL) unfortunately could not attend. Graciouslytaking her place, however, was Sheila McDonough, professor of religion atConcordia University (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) and author of therecently released The Muslim Veil in North America: Issues and Debates(University of Toronto Press: 2002.) She engaged the audience in a livelydiscussion of the philosophical question "Can a Muslim Woman Think?"She logically argued that genetics are evenly distributed to offspring, so thatwomen receive intellect from both parents; that children think as they learn;and that, in general, all homo sapiens are thinking creatures. She used severalQur'anic verses to demonstrate that God addresses women as a groupseparately from men and also stressed that everyone is responsible for hisor her own actions on the Day of Judgment ...