• Table of Contents

Principles

IslamicFamily’s commitment to true partnership with Indigenous peoples is an ongoing process based on the following…

1. We seek guidance from the Creator and acknowledge the sacred in all relationships.
2. True partnership, that is sincere, authentic, curious and focussed on beneficence, joy & shared healing as well as working towards equity, power, opportunity, health & the sacred.

Acknowledge & Support… 3. Acknowledge the richness and contribution of Indigenous peoples. 1. Avoid well intentioned, but unwittingly simplistic, demeaning views of Indigenous peoples. 4. Acknowledge its not and us and them; Indigenous peoples are a vital part of the Muslim community and Islam has been/is a part of Indigenous communities. 5. Acknowledge that we have much to learn from the work of Indigenous peoples/ organizations and an obligation to contribute. 6. Support the Truth & Reconciliation Commission's (TRC) recommendations through amplifying the calls to action in our interaction with governments, as well as programming and education efforts. 7. Acknowledge that relationships are complex, subtle, dynamic and delicate entities that require nurture and maintenance, and that written objectives serve only as a starting point/ reference.

Learn, Share & Educate… "We created you all from a single man and a single woman, and made you into races and tribes so that you should recognize one another." (Al Hujrat 49:13) 8. Serve to educate ourselves and the communities we serve. 1. Our community is not always well informed about Indigenous issues, and we have a role to correct this 2. We as Muslims have been complicit in harm to Indigenous people. 3. Religious chauvinism is inauthentic to our tradition.
4. We have personal & collective responsibilities to steward land with ihsan. 9. Expand on our shared stories & shared values. 1. Explore and articulate shared values (institutional & spiritual) through workshops and consultation with Elders & partner agencies. 2. We need to work on listening, and uncovering our vast common understanding of things. This includes belief in the divine, seeing sentience in the seemingly inanimate. 3. Cultivate shared stories and experiences of colonization, dislocation – while acknowledging our role as settlers on Treaty 6.

***Act*…**

10. Articulate clearly what we’ll (continue to) do…
    1. Create time and space for genuine relationships based on respect, support, embracing differences & nurturing commonality with kindness, love, and respect.
    2. Work collaboratively to ensure Indigenous peoples are a part of first welcoming of newcomers.
    3. Educate (especially youth) through Indigenous knowledge keepers in our programs.
    4. Honour protocol when we engage.
       1. Put into practice Indigenous principles of relationship specific to our local area.
    5. Build on our collective interest in supporting members of our community to flourish
    6. Commit to the 7 points outlined in the Philanthropic Community's Declaration of Action & the Calls for All Canadians in the Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls (MMIWG) Report's Calls for Justice.
    7. Integrate a land acknowledgment that is connected to the Islamic tradition & authentically our own on business cards, e-signatures, our website, and events we host. Honouring Indigenous protocol is honouring our own tradition.
       1. Include prayers for peace, prosperity & restitution for the people of this land.
       2. Earnestly cultivate authentic dua (prayers) & litanies specific to our time, place & people we're with.
    8. Collaborate and serve alongside Indigenous partner organizations on improving systems, & shared celebrations like Rootson6.ca, and the Canadian Prayer Rug.

Sample Land Acknowledging Dua

﷽

O Allah — You who are known by many names, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, the Creator — You who have sent messengers and prophets to all peoples.

O Allah, bless this gathering and bless the venerated land upon which we gather, the land of the Métis and many Indigenous peoples — the Cree, Blackfoot, Nakota Sioux, Iroquois, Dene, Ojibway, Saulteaux, Anishinaabe, Inuit, and many others — peoples to whom we are bound by treaty, by our shared humanity, and by a sacred call to brotherhood, sisterhood, and civic responsibility.

O Allah, relieve the suffering of the occupied and the oppressed — across the world and here among us. Protect us from causing harm or misfortune to others. Make us people who bring ease to those who suffer: through our collective action, through our patience, through our persistence, through our commitment to noble principles, through our voices, through bridge-building, and by being faithful in all our actions.