The Most Prominent Affiliated / Loyal Institutions of the Muslim Brotherhood in Canada

Muslim League of Canada (MAC):

The Muslim League of Canada is an islamic organization founded in 1997, which describes itself as a “non-profit organization providing religious and educational services to the Muslim community in Canada”. In reality the organization is supposed to be the main bearer of the ideology of the MB in Canada, and it uses government money to spread fundamentalism in the country. ^[1]

The association is headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario and runs local branches in 13 cities. Furthermore, it owns and operates at least 20 mosques and 30 schools throughout Canada, mainly in the cities of Toronto, Montreal and Edmonton. The organization frequently organizes summer and winter camps “for social cohesion” in addition to various projects and campaigns such as workshops and the distribution of food baskets during Ramadan. The organization communicated that it directly serves 49,250 people every year.

Representatives of the Muslim League of Canada regularly participate in meetings with the Canadian government regarding Muslim communities and the phenomenon of Islamophobia. The association also hosts leaders from the group at its student conferences, including the Mauritanian preacher residing in Qatar, Mohammed Al-Hassan Al-Dadaw Al-Shenqiti, and the Kuwaiti preacher Tarek Suwaidan, whose announcement of his participation in one of the association’s events in the summer of 2021 caused a lot of controversy. This controversy led to the withdrawal of his participation and the Association issuance of a statement that included the association’s commitment to “building a tolerant, Hate-Free Canada”. ^[2]

School fees and donations are the main source of revenue for the Muslim League of Canada. According to a government report released on August 5, 2022 ^[3], the association received donations of 10.5 million dollars in 2019. It also received 11.8 million dollars from school fees. Administrative costs are 8% of total revenue (excluding investment income) and fundraising costs are 15% of donations. For every dollar donated to the Association, 77 cents are used for the purpose of the donation.

The association owns 7.2 million dollars in liquid assets (cash, investments, loans, refundable sales tax) and 23.8 million dollars in long-term debt (mortgages). It also has assets of 30.5 million dollars in land and 43 million dollars in buildings.

The association received and still received millions of dollars in government support over the last years. From 2019 to 2021, the foundation received more than two million Canadian dollars in funding for employment and social projects, as well as 350 thousand Canadian dollars for an action program to combat racism. From January to the end of March 2022, it received almost 50,000 Canadian dollars to combat hate crimes. ^[4]

During the first decade of the Twenty-First Century, the Muslim League of Canada donated a total of 296,514 US dollars to a Hamas – linked organization IRFAN-Canada ^[5]. After Irfan’s charitable status was revoked in 2011, and the movement had been designated as a terrorist group by the Canadian government on April 29, 2014 ^[6], the Muslim League of Canada disavowed its relationship with the organization, issuing a statement stating that “as soon as allegations arose that led to the removal of IRFAN-Canada from the list of charitable organizations the association has stopped all donations to the organization”.

While a 113-page memo to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, a Canadian Security Service, referred to the relationship between the Muslim League of Canada and IRFAN-Canada, the memo said that financial transactions related to the financing of terrorism occurred at the MAC mosque in Montreal. ^[7]

Islamic Relief Canada ^[8]

It is a sub branch of the International Islamic Relief Organization “charity”, which was founded in 1984 in Birmingham, north London, Britain, by prominent MB leaders such as Hani Al-Banna, Essam Al-Haddad, Khaled Lamada, Essam Al-Bashir, Ahmed Al-Rawi, Abdul Wahab Noor Wali, Mohammed Al-Shammawi and Ehsan Shabib.

“Islamic Relief” is one of the largest Islamic charities in the world and operates in more than forty countries. In most European countries it faces accusations of financing extremist groups and being linked to the Muslim Brotherhood in particular. The former adviser to President Mohamed Morsi, Essam Haddad, played an important roles in the organization for many years.

Islamic Relief Canada was founded in 2006 as “an Islamic charity working program to eradicate poverty, illiteracy and disease”. It is headquartered in Burlington, Ontario.

The organization is one of the richest charities in Canada in terms of its ability to attract donations, as it received Canadian donations worth 68.8 million dollars in 2021, and also received 325 thousand dollars of in-kind donations ,657 thousand dollars in government funding, and 428 thousand dollars in international cash donations. Administrative costs are 4% of revenues, fundraising costs are 11% of donations. This results in a public outlay of 15% for every dollar donated to the charity, of which 85 cents are used for the donated cause. Islamic Relief Canada’s Reserve is 25 million dollars, according to government data released on July 18, 2022. ^[9]

The activist “Osama Khan” has been the CEO of the organization in Canada since October 2021.

The board of Directors also includes Aisha Al Sayed, who is the head of fundraising at the organization. Yusra Radwan, director of operations, Rehana Patel, head of communications and government relations at Islamic Relief Canada, and others.

Canadian Islamic Forum ^[10] (CMF):

The CMF is a political advocacy and public relations organization associated with the Muslim Brotherhood ^[11]. The Canadian Islamic Forum has been founded in 1993 “in the light of in-depth reflection by Muslim youth on how to represent the rights and interests of Muslim communities on more than one level, social, political and media, at the federal level in Ottawa and local in the province of Quebec,” its officials say. ^[12]

The foundation is run by” Samer Majzoub”, an Islamic activist who specializes in creating official and unofficial pressure groups to defend the group and extend its influence in the Canadian political scene under the pretexts of integration and combating Islamophobia ^[13]. The foundation denies links to the Muslim Brotherhood networks for fear of prosecution. ^[14]

The forum’s Board of Directors also includes: Cathy Malas, Mohamed Nour El Sheikh, Mohamed El Jundy, and Nermin Barboush.

Muslim Students Association (MSA) ^[15]

It is considered to be the first result of the Muslim Brotherhood network in North America ^[16]. It was founded in January 1963 under the name “Association of Muslim Students in the US and Canada” (MSA National) after a series of meetings of Muslim Brotherhood student cadres, mostly from North American States and close to Canada, such as Illinois, Michigan and Indiana.

During a speech in Missouri in 1980 about the beginnings of the Brotherhoods establishment of the Muslim Student Union in North America, the American Muslim Brotherhood leader, Zeid Nauman, said that the members of the Union were communicating with any Muslim student attending to study at American and Canadian universities, and then attracting that student to the Union. He stated that the executive leadership of the Islamic student unions in North America (USA and Canada) were exclusively members of the MB. ^[17]

The Association of Muslim students in Canada is present in most Canadian universities, and it has a page on the official website of universities to introduce student activities. There is an introductory page of the Association on the website of the most prestigious Canadian universities, the University of Toronto, and one of the goals of this association: “to spare students from wrong and non-Islamic practices, promote the concept of interdependence between brothers and sisters, as well as develop long-term plans to secure prayer places at the University, manage financial funds, scholarships, and provide everything that benefits the Muslim community on campus”. ^[18]

The Muslim Student Association has close ties with American Muslim Brotherhood organizations such as ISNA and CAIR, whose leaders are regularly invited to speak at the association’s conferences. ^[19]