UPDATE #1  09/15/2001
We at the Canadian Society of Muslims have received many many letters in the last few days with kind outpourings of friendship and concern from non-Muslim Canadians with regards to the recent spate of attacks against Muslims across the country. The letters were beautiful and we thank you all! Less than 1/10th of the letters, however, were of the hate variety from people who clearly want to paint all Muslims with the same brush. God willing, some day they will grow in understanding. None of this detracts from the exceptional kindness and concern from most of you. Thank you and may God bless you.

UPDATE#2  09/18/2001
A large majority of the letters we are receiving now are lovely. We do thank you. For an article which gives the Canadian Muslim perspective on this horrendous crime click here.

UPDATE#3   09/20/2001
We have uploaded a NewsBulletin that was printed and distributed to the Muslim community. In it there were samples of the supportive e-mail we've received as well as hate mail, and we also discuss other issues. Click here to see it. We have also published all the supportive mail we got. Click here to see it.

UPDATE #4  09/27/2001
Here is an 18 minute CBC interview of Shaykh Hamza Yusuf Hanson (a Muslim scholar who lives in the U.S.) by Michael Enright about the Sept. 11 horror: RealAudio | Transcript

Here is a newspaper article about 9/11 published by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf Hanson on Sept. 16/2001

We published a transcript of a lecture by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf Hanson about the spiritual diseases of the heart on Sept. 6, 2001 Click here to see it.

UPDATE#5 10/03/2001
For an article on moderation in Islam click here.

UPDATE#610/10/2001
Here is an article by Michael Mandel (who is a professor of law at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto) which is quite good. The author discusses the U.S. and its contravention of International Law at this time.

For a Muslim perspective given by the President of the Canadian Society of Muslims please see: Terrorism and Muslim Law - The Case of Osama bin Laden's Fatwa

UPDATE#7 10/12/2001

Media Release issued 10/12/2001: TERRORISM AND MUSLIM LAW:  BIN LADEN'S INVALID FATWA (TORONTO) Osama bin Laden's so-called "fatwa" is merely a personal opinion lacking any legal authority or power, according to a Canadian lawyer.  The Muslim community reacted nervously to bin Laden's so-called "fatwa" issued on October 7. Syed Mumtaz Ali is a retired lawyer, President of the Canadian Society of Muslims, and expert in Muslim law. He believes the fatwa does not hold water.  "The most that can be said about bin Laden's so-called 'fatwa' is that it is not worth the paper it is written on, if he ever rendered his ruling on paper at all," noted Ali. Ali believes that bin Laden's ruling is merely a personal opinion expressed by an ordinary, yet rich and biased person.  No Muslim is obliged to accept or act upon a call to take up arms to start a world-wide war. Bin Laden is NOT the head of any sovereign Muslim state and therefore he has no legal authority whatsoever to declare a jihad. Generally, war is forbidden in Islam. Defensive wars (or jihad) may be permitted only on rare occasions. But the right to self-defence is very similar to the same right in western international law. An Osgoode Hall Law professor, Michael Mandel, said, "The right of self-defence in international law is like the right of self-defence in our own law: It allows you to defend yourself when the law is not around, but it does  not allow you to take the law into your own hands."  "Jihads are permitted only in lawful circumstances. On the other hand, vengeance or material gain are not lawful and are considered to be crimes against humanity," says Ali. "Bin Laden's so-called "jihad" is NOT sanctioned by Muslim law (Shari'ah)."  Terrorism (vicarious punishment), private justice or vendetta, is expressly forbidden under Islamic law because, in effect, it involves inflicting reprisals on innocent people for the crimes of others. Both suicide and murder are crimes under Islamic law as well.