The Majlis

Dr. Adnan Husain sits down with author, journalist, and community leader Murray Hogben to discuss his exciting new book Minarets on the Horizon: Muslim Pioneers in Canada. For the first time ever, Hogben has compiled the stories and oral histories of some of the earliest Muslims in Canada. The pioneering work takes a journey across Canada and paints a portrait of stories seldom told and rarely presented in such a holistic perspective. This is especially timely given the growth of Islamophobia in Canada – Hogben’s work demonstrates decisively that there has been a lively Muslim community all over the country for many decades. This represents the first invaluable contribution to the growing study of Muslims and Islam in Canada.

Get your copy of Minarets from the publisher Mawenzi House (link below) or call your local bookstore and request a copy!

https://www.mawenzihouse.com/product/minarets-on-the-horizon/

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Dr. Adnan Husain -Director of MSGP- is joined by co host Amel Bensalim, a Libyan-Canadian SSHRC-funded Master's student at Queen's University and Member of MSGP. Dr. Husain and Amel welcomed two guests: Azeezah Kanji, a legal academic and writer, whose has appeared in the Al Jazeera English, Haaretz, Toronto Star, TruthOut, National Post, Ottawa Citizen, OpenDemocracy, Roar Magazine, iPolitics, Policy Options, Rabble, and various academic anthologies and journals. And Dr. Yasmine Djerbal, a recent PhD graduate from Queen's University whose work revolves around Islamophobia and the French and Canadian states. Her research investigates how radicalization & terrorist narratives are used to erode citizenship rights of Muslims in Canada and France. Specifically, she looks at how the two countries oversee, read, and manage Muslims in relation to secularism and 'war on terror' legislation. 

In this episode, the panelists addressed the implications and impact of the horrific murder of four members of the Afzaal family in London, Ontario, which was motivated by white supremacy and hate. Three generations of a Muslim Canadian family killed, leaving a 9-year-old child orphaned. The motive was horrific: Nathaniel Veltman, the pickup driver who mowed into them targeted them because of their faith.  Thus far, Federal and provincial Crown attorneys have laid terror charges against Veltman while Police allege the incident was a planned and premeditated attack targeting Muslims However, Canadian Society continues to address the tragic killing of the Afzaal family as an "isolated incident"; yet Canada simultaneously faces virulent anti-Muslim hate and a brand of exceptionalism that promotes apathy and even denial towards the very existence of islamophobia in the country.

  Find MSGP on Facebook: www.facebook.com/MSGPQU  and on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MSGPQU Support us here: https://www.queensu.ca/msgp/ Follow our host Dr. Adnan Husain on Twitter: https://twitter.com/adnanahusain

What do literary studies have to do with politics? How and why was Edward Said able to emphasize this connection, and revolutionize the way the West looked at the Middle East, and the way the Middle East looked back?

Dr. Husain is joined by guest co-host Dr. David Schmid, professor of English at the University at Buffalo, for this discussion on the life and work of famed scholar and activist, Edward Said. The University of Minnesota’s Dr. Timothy Brennan, who was a student, colleague, and friend of Said, speaks about the scholar and his new biography “Places of Mind: A Life of Edward Said.” The fascinating discussion covers not only his work, but also Said’s remarkable life, personality, and world view, and how all of those came together to shape his writing.

Get the book here: https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/places-of-mind-a-life/9780374714710-item.html

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374146535

Professor David Schmid is an Associate Professor in the Department of English at the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York (SUNY). The recipient of the Milton Plesur Excellence in Teaching Award and the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, he teaches courses in British and American fiction, cultural studies, and popular culture. Dr. Schmid has published on a variety of subjects, including the nonfiction novel, celebrity, film adaptation, Dracula, and crime fiction.

Timothy Brennan works on the relationship between comparative literature, world literature, and global English. He is a member of both the departments of Cultural Studies & Comparative Literature, and English, and is a member of the graduate faculty of American Studies at the University of Minnesota.

As someone who studied under Edward Said and remained a friend until his death in 2003, Timothy Brennan had unprecedented access to his thesis adviser’s ideas and legacy. In this authoritative work, Said, the pioneer of postcolonial studies, a tireless champion for his native Palestine, and an erudite literary critic, emerges as a self-doubting, tender, eloquent advocate of literature’s dramatic effects on politics and civic life.

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When one thinks of African enslavement in history, the Ottoman Empire is rarely the first thing to come to mind. On this episode, Dr. Michael Ferguson (Concordia University) illuminates and discusses the facets of this little known aspect of global slavery history. Dr. Ferguson and Majlis host Dr. Adnan Husain delve into the relatively unknown social and cultural history of enslaved and emancipated Africans and their descendants in Izmir in the late Ottoman Empire.

Dr. Michael Ferguson is an Affiliate Assistant Professor in the Department of History at Concordia University. Michael’s research focuses on questions of identity, marginalization, and minorities in the late Ottoman Empire and early republican Turkey. 

Learn more about Dr. Ferguson and his work: http://www.michaelfergusonhistorian.net/

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Soleiman Faqiri was killed while in federal custody in 2016. To this day, questions remain about the circumstances of his death at the hands of correctional officers, and the lack of transparency and justice for his murder. In this episode of The Majlis, host Dr. Adnan Husain sits down with his brother Yusuf Faqiri and with Yusuf Zine, who hosts and produced an upcoming investigative podcast series called "Unascertained," which delves into the case. Yusuf Faqiri not only outlines the details of his brother's murder, but remembers his life and how important it is for all Canadians to seek #JusticeForSoli. 

Tune in to the Unascertained pre-launch event tomorrow (March 31st) at 7pm EDT https://fb.me/e/49XLsf452

Listen to Unascertained, launching April 7th on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/66piID0CN1nXbel6NxxZj2?si=P3ITj6HNRdmYUkGKg061KA 

and Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/unascertained/id1559615719

To get involved and stay informed, follow JusticeForSoli on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Justice4Soli

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/justiceforsoli

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justiceforsoli/

Follow Yusuf Zine on twitter https://twitter.com/yusufzine and Kevin Young https://twitter.com/theyoungkevin13

And check out more of their work on https://www.innerspeak.co/

Based on a recording of a live MSGP event, this episode of the Majlis features a panel of experts revisiting the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism and it's implications for academic freedom and the fight for justice and human rights. The panel was moderated by Queen's University professor of history Dr. Howard Adelman. He was joined by Middle East expert and professor Dr. Ariel Salzmann, Dr. Mark M. Ayyash an associate professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, and Director of the John de Chastelain Peace Studies Initiative at Mount Royal University, as well as University of Toronto professor of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean history Dr. Jens Hanssen. 

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For more info on the Hearing Palestine Team, go to https://www.facebook.com/HearingPalestine

“Hearing Palestine” is a new initiative at the University of Toronto, that provides a safe space for Palestinians and those interested in the history & future of Palestine to share their experience and research. The initiative is designed to improve the university experience for students enduring, and concerned about, anti-Palestinian discrimination on campus. We encourage dialogues on cultural life, artistic creativity, social justice and current affairs in Canada and the Middle East from the perspective of Palestine. We are in solidarity with indigenous struggles everywhere and encourage critical engagement with settler colonialism, sectarianism and authoritarianism in the Middle East, Canada and elsewhere.

Host Dr. Adnan Husain, professor and historian at Queen's University, is joined by an exciting panel of experts to discuss France's rhetoric on "Islamo-Leftism" and the Global Muslim Question. Azeezah Kanji, a legal academic and writer based in Toronto, is co-hosting. Professor Hatem Bazian is the executive director of the Islamophobia Documentation and Research project at UC Berkeley, where he is a teaching professor in the Near Eatern Studies and in Asian American Studies Departments. Hamza Esmili is a doctoral candidate in anthropology and sociology at the Centre Maurice Halbwachs of the Ecole Normale Superieur in Paris. And finally, rounding out the panel is Dr. Salman Sayyid, professor of Social Theory and Decolonial Thought at the School of Sociology and Social Policy of University of Leeds. 

This lively and thought provoking discussion considers the The use of this term "Islamo-Leftism" and its context, as well as how and why scholarship on race, colonialism, and post-colonial social theory has become controversial in French political culture. More broadly, the panel also considers the global context of this rhetoric and the history of liberal democracies, and why western society must come to terms with the long standing anxieties over Islam and Muslims. 

In this episode, host Dr. Adnan Husain and Dr. Jasmin Zine, of Wilfrid Laurier University, discuss Canadian Islamophobia, in reflection and commemoration of the January 29th, 2017 Quebec Mosque shooting, where a gunman killed 6 Muslim men as they prayed, and injured 19. Dr. Zine unpacks the aftermath and reaction to the tragedy, or lack thereof; Canada simultaneously faces virulent anti-Muslim hate and a brand of exceptionalism that promotes apathy and even denial towards the very existence of islamophobia in the country. With the fourth anniversary of the massacre around the corner, Dr. Zine and Dr. Husain consider how the country has dealt or failed to deal with the massacre and islamophobia since, and what role Muslims play in the Canadian political and cultural spheres.

Dr. Jasmin Zine is a professor of Sociology and Muslim Studies, specializing in Islamophobia, Islamic feminism, religious identity, and the politics of surveillance. She is the author of numerous books and articles, including the upcoming monograph tentatively titled Under Siege: Islamophobia, Radicalization, Surveillance, and Muslim Youth Counter-Publics. You can find her on twitter at https://twitter.com/jasminzine

Get involved in remembrance of the Quebec Mosque shooting at: www.january29.ca

Find MSGP on Facebook: www.facebook.com/MSGPQU 

and on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MSGPQU 

Support us here: https://www.queensu.ca/msgp/ 

Follow our host Dr. Adnan Husain on Twitter: https://twitter.com/adnanahusain 

Majlis host Dr. Adnan Husain sits down with director David Schisgall to discuss his new documentary film The Oil War. Premiered in DOC NYC festival November 11th-19th, 2020. The film follows historian Andrew Bacevich and his book, America's War for the Greater Middle East: A Military History, as he delivers an anti-colonial critique of US foreign policy in the Middle East, informed by his long career in the Army. While other historians analyze changing presidential administrations, Bacevich sees one long Oil War. There are scant differences between Democrats and Republicans when it comes to the sacrifice of soldiers’ lives. His radical analysis has won bipartisan followers and even an invitation to speak with President Obama. Bacevich describes what that meeting reveals about America’s need to break free from its past. 

Find the film here: https://www.docnyc.net/film/the-oil-war/ 

Find MSGP on Facebook: www.facebook.com/MSGPQU 

and Twitter: https://twitter.com/MSGPQU

Support us here: https://www.queensu.ca/msgp/

Follow Dr. Adnan Husain on Twitter: https://twitter.com/adnanahusain 

In this episode, Amel Bensalim speaks to former Queen's PhD student and current Assistant Professor at York University, Dr. Sanober Umar. Dr. Umar's current work explores the relationship (and critical differences) between caste and racial hierarchies, and how they subsequently inform the figure of the Muslim in Indian and world politics. Another area of expertise and interest for Dr. Umar is exploring the histories and global politics of "racing" and gendering Islam as religion, and subsequently how these constructions are usurped, adapted, or challenged by various political quarters and communities. Dr. Umar and Amel discuss the intersecting issues at the heart of historical and contemporary Muslim marginalization in Indian society and politics.