Action against Islamophobia underlined on Quebec City Mosque Attack Remembrance Day
On Jan. 29, 2017, a gunman opened fire inside the Islamic Cultural Center of Québec during evening prayers, killing six men and injuring 19 others. The attack, widely recognized as one of the deadliest acts of anti-Muslim violence in Canadian history, shattered the sense of safety many associate with places of worship.
Those killed were Ibrahima Barry, Mamadou Tanou Barry, Khaled Belkacemi, Abdelkrim Hassane, Azzedine Soufiane, and Aboubaker Thabti.
“Places of worship traditionally are seen as sanctuaries,” said Mona Rahman in an interview with The Journal. Rahman’s a research awards officer in the Vice-Principal (Research) portfolio and co-coordinator of the Queen’s University Muslim Inclusion Network (QUMIN).
Ayman Derbali, who was shot multiple times while trying to stop the gunman, now lives with life-altering injuries.
In 2021, the federal government officially designated Jan. 29 as the National Day of Remembrance of the Québec City Mosque Attack and Action Against Islamophobia.
“The significance isn’t only about commemorating and remembering what happened,” said Adnan A. Hussain in an interview with The Journal. Husain’s the director of the School of Religion and an associate professor specializing in medieval Mediterranean and Islamicate world history. “It’s an opportunity to educate and mobilize […], to understand how significant and continuing the problem of Islamophobia is.”
While the attack marked a turning point in public awareness, Husain said Islamophobia has deeper historical and political roots.
“Very often people think of Islamophobia as just targeting Muslims,” Husain said. “Many of the first victims of Islamophobic violence […] were Sikhs and other who appeared to be Muslims or were identified as Muslims.”
He described Islamophobia as a broader social and political force that intersects with anti-immigrant rhetoric and far-right organizing. Even with increased recognition and research, Husain said change has been limited.
However, recognition of Jan. 29 has helped shift conversations that had long been dismissed, according to Rahman.
“I think it finally was acknowledged that Islamophobia’s a problem in Canada,” she said. Still, she noted, “we keep hearing this ‘never again, never again,’ but it keeps happening.”
That’s why the day’s title includes “action,” she explained.
“It’s a matter of everybody kind of doing their part to call it out when we see it […], don’t be the bystander, be the upstander,” she said.
Queen’s University Muslim Students Association (QUMSA) echoed that sentiment, calling Jan. 29 “not only a day of remembrance,” but “a renewal of commitment,” in a statement to The Journal.
“The next time you hear an Islamophobic ‘joke,’ see a double standard excused, or watch someone’s dignity treated as negotiable, don’t let it become normalized,” the statement reads.
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One visible way communities participate is through the Green Square Campaign, launched by the National Council of Canadian Muslims. In the week leading up to Jan. 29, supporters wear a small green square as a symbol of remembrance and solidarity.
Rahman said the symbol references “the green carpets of the mosque that they were killed in,” and also carries spiritual meaning connected to paradise in Islamic tradition.
Green squares were available locally at the Islamic Center of Kingston and at several Queen’s locations, including the Office of the Vice-Principle (Culture, Equity, and Inclusion), the Office of Faith and Spiritual Life, the Queen’s University International Centre, and the JDUC.
While earlier campaigns raised funds for affected families and survivors, she said today it primarily serves as an awareness tool and reminder to take a stand against Islamophobia.
Both Rahman and Husain pointed to education as central to long-term change.
“Ignorance leads to suspicion, mistrust, which leads to hatred,” Rahman said. “So, the way we counter the hatred is through education.”
At universities, Husain argued, that education must go beyond workshops.
“What transforms a culture and environment is curriculum,” he said, “We have almost nothing at this University that really studies Islam, Muslims, Muslim societies globally, [or] deals with Muslim diasporic experience in Canada.”
Without integrating Muslim histories and experiences across disciplines, he said, misinformation and fear persist.
Rahman said Queen’s has made progress through training modules, lectures, and student initiatives, but acknowledged campus culture can by cyclical as new cohorts arrive.
“It seems that it’s not being as cyclical as it used to be because I think we’re putting infrastructure down now,” she said. “Not perfect, because all it takes is one loud voice.”
QUMSA also encouraged students to make use of campus reporting tools and supports, like the IN-SIGHT anonymous reporting tool, when they encounter discrimination.
“Documentation matters. What goes unreported can be left to grow in silence,” their statement said.
This year, QUMIN and campus partners will mark Jan. 29 with a virtual lunchtime discussion on Islamophobia, led by Husain. Rahman also said Kingston City Hall will be lit green in recognition of the day.
For Rahman, the day’s ultimately about connection as much as commemoration.
She says, “the more people try to get to know each other, the more we can try to minimize any type of discrimination.”
Source: queensjournal.ca
