Fort MacMurray, muslims in Fort MacMurray

Recently Muslims in Fort MacMurray have been vocal and visible in their opposition to Alberta links to terrorism. In recent weeks Canadian born citizens who have been fighting as terrorists in the Middle East have been in the spotlight. Calgary native Farah Mohamed Shirdon is reported to have been killed in the fighting in the Middle East, and the Canadian was fighting on the side of terrorism. This has left Muslims in Fort MacMurray with a need to speak out against terrorism and to distance themselves. Shirdon is just the last of several native Canadians who have died as terrorists. Damian Clairmont, Salman Ashrafi, and Andre Poulin are three other men from Canada who have lost their lives while fighting for Islamist Jihad in the Middle East.

Markaz-Ul-Islam mosque vice-president of community affairs Wajeehullah Arain has come forward to declare that Muslims in Fort MacMurray condemn acts of terroriism, and went on to ask that anyone who has information on this topic contact the local police with the information. Arain also stated “As Muslims and as Canadians, we stand against this extremism, ignorance, hatred and violence. The best course of action in combating extremist beliefs is to be proactive by educating our members, giving back to our community of RMWB and to identify and report all extremist activities to law enforcement authorities.” Arain continued with “As a community we collectively strive to uproot any extremist views. We have an open line of communication and a strong relationship with the RCMP. Education is the best tool to combat extremism; which is a by-product of ignorance. So far thankfully we have not encountered any issue involving extremism in our community. We understand the need to be proactive because the RMWB is a region with a transient demographic.”