Muslim Awareness Week
A week to get to know each other!
Muslim Awareness Week (MAW) is a yearly week of solidarity and exchange where people of all ages, backgrounds, and beliefs are invited to learn about the achievements, contributions, aspirations, and concerns of Quebecers of Muslim faith.
Թ acknowledges that MAW represents an important opportunity of awareness raising around Islamophobia within Թ and helps build bridges between Թ and the Muslim communities across our city and province.
Join us for the eighth edition of MAW, January 25 through January 31. The 2026 MAW theme is “Breaking Walls, Building Bridges: A Quebec of Encounters and Hope” with a special emphasis on youth and mental health.
The objectives of MAW are twofold:
- to introduce and celebrate Muslim identities as fear is considered a major driving force behind prejudice and hatred towards specific groups, and
- to educate the public so as to prevent hate motivated crimes towards this minority and in order to create a better society within Quebec society. The is a valuable resource in this regard. The Guide was created by the Office of the .
January 29: A Day of Commemoration
On 29 January 2017, 46 people were attacked in the Great Mosque of Quebec after Isha (evening) prayer. As a result of the shooting, 6 people were killed, many were seriously physically injured, 17 children were orphaned and a whole community left immensely traumatized and psychologically wounded.
What’s even more alarming is that this tragedy only signaled the beginning of a series of incidents across Canada targeting Muslims because of their identity including in Edmonton, Saskatoon, London, Mississauga and Toronto. According to the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights 2023 entitled “Islamophobia and its Impacts on Muslims in Canada”, Canada is leading the G7 countries in terms of targeted killings of Muslims motivated by Islamophobia and 1 in 4 Canadians does not trust Muslims. These hateful incidents do not happen in a vacuum; they are rooted in hateful othering discourses that demonize and dehumanize Muslims by framing them in stereotypical ways mirroring anti-Muslim tropes.
The skyrocketing anti-Muslim hatred across the country and internationally in light of international events makes it all the more important to commemorate the National Day of Remembrance of the Québec City Mosque Attack and Action Against Islamophobia through continuing to remember and honor the six victims:
- Ibrahima Barry
- Mamadou Tanou Barry
- Khaled Belkacemi
- Abdelkrim Hassane
- Azzeddine Soufiane
- Aboubaker Thabti
The Green Square Campaign
What is the Green Square Campaign?
The is an initiative that takes place in the week leading up to January 29th every year to remember the victims and survivors of the Québec City mosque attack and encourages Canada to wear a patch of green fabric in solidarity with the victims and survivors, especially with the six widows, the seventeen children left fatherless and Aymen Derbali who is left paralyzed for life, and with every person suffering the consequences of the heinous attack.
Why a green square?
The green square represents the green carpets of the Québec City mosque, where the victims last stood to pray. It symbolizes the fact that the deceased are, God willing, in a green garden, in a better place since they left that night.
NCCM Green Square Educational Guide:
