OF MUSLIM WOMEN

Freedom and oppression in the west has always existed from a colonial standpoint that tries to maintain the idea that white society is better and more civilized or progressive. Throughout history, the west has vilified and criminalized entire groups of people, or othered them, to deflect and distract from their own immoralities and hypocrisies of breaking their own laws and oppressing countless communities. The right to be progressive and have freedom of expression and speech is present, but with the exception that if your views and opinions do not conform with the state and their interest, then your views are wrong, archaic, etc. Within the same vein, if your idea of freedom does not conform or look like what the west adheres to, you are considered oppressed, and it is in this greater censoring under the guise of freedom that Muslim women are losing their rights.

Historically, groups have been othered and criminalized including Indigenous people, black people, and now Muslims, to distract from the illegal and morally corrupt behaviors of the west. Because of this, Muslims and Muslim women in particular (as they are the ones who more widely wear clothes to signal their faith) have become a target. There is also a sheep mentality amongst the masses of people that think they understand individual thoughts and rights, but again conform to the greater encompassing ideologies and most likely fear voicing their real opinions for fear of being ridiculed or pushed into a space of otherness as well. So, what has modern feminism done for us? It has taken away our agency and denied us the opportunities to function as students, leaders, or contributing members of society. It has made every day interactions a battle for our identities; making us choose between an education and practicing our religion. The onus is on us to move the needle to keep fighting for our freedoms and towards a mutual understanding of our religion in the public sphere. In the same light, our governments and media should play a crucial role in education, to foster acceptance of the increasing diversity in western societies. By initiating the groundwork, perhaps we can pave the way for our future generations to prosper and thrive in ways that we are missing.

Aishah Ali, 29

Halal certification is one of the food industry's most disputed and recently, most profitable labels. When a product is certified as Halal, it signifies that it complies with Islamic law and is permissible for consumption by Muslims. Meat or animal byproducts must come from specific animals, and the animals must be slaughtered following Islamic laws to acquire this certification. Muslim customers purchase Halal certified goods to feel secure in knowing that the products they use are consistent with their Islamic or cultural values. Products can also be certified as Kosher, which provides Jewish customers.

Halal is a big business, and its benefits are worth getting a label. A report referenced by CNN valued the global halal food and beverage market at $1.37 trillion in 2014, which represented 18% of the entire market.¹ This number is only growing, as the same report states that the number of Muslims worldwide is expected to increase from 1.6 billion in 2010 to 2.8 billion in 2050 . The Halal certification also appeals to non-Muslims and non-practicing Muslims, believing that halal goods are of a higher calibre. A halal certification, in their eyes, is a seal of approval signifying superior quality due to strict supply chain controls and inspections. Other benefits include having a larger target market, having a more polished brand reputation and having the upper hand against competitors. There is a rise in businesses applying to obtain halal certifications as the global halal market grows.² This is not only due to the anticipated increase in the world's Muslim population, but also the general trend of multinational corporations increasing the availability of their halal products.³ The market for halal food has grown significantly over the last ten years and is now expected to be worth $632 billion annually. Due to Canada's growing Muslim population, supermarkets, producers, and eateries are looking to profit in halal food sales. Consumers in Canada are starting to understand the label's clarity, and companies should be using this opportunity to reap the benefits of the halal certification.

A halal certification shows that a product complies with Islamic law, and offers higher profit margins, a larger target market, and meeting consumer needs. A Halal certification is one of the most debated, contentious, and overly complex designations in the food sector, but it does not have to be anymore.

¹Morlin-Yron, Sophie. “Makeup, Meds and Sports Wear: Why Halal Has Become Big Business.” CNN, 29 Aug. 2016, www.cnn. com/2016/08/29/world/halal-industry. Accessed 22 Nov. 2022.

²“Halal Food: Certification Trust among Consumers in Canada 2015.” Statista, www.statista.com/statistics/784684/halal-food-attributespreferred-by-consumers-in-canada/. Accessed 22 Nov. 2022. ³digital-002. “How Halal Industry Influenced the Global Market with a Wide Range of Food & Non-Food Products.” HMA - Halal Monitoring Authority, 15 June 2022, hmacanada.org/how-halalindustry-influenced-the-global-market-with-a-wide-range-of-food-non -food-products/. Accessed 22 Nov. 2022.

The voter turnout for this year's municipal election across Ontario was thirty-six percent. According to CBC, it was the lowest turnout since 1982. There are many speculations as to why the voter turnout was low, from voter fatigue to simply not enough local press on the election, but as a youth myself, it is easy to infer that the majority of unwritten ballots belonged to youth.

With Canadian youth making up 40% of eligible voters, youth turnout in elections has been an issue beyond this municipal election. Statistics Canada's data report found in 2020 that only sixty percent of youth aged 15 to 30 in Canada showed interest in politics.

As a student journalist who covered this year's election on the lack of youth engagement, I was surprised to learn that it had to do with barriers they faced when accessing information about the elections, one being information on candidates.

"I volunteer with a Scarborough storefront, I run a youth group out of there. And we wanted some of the candidates to come and speak to the community. And it was so hard to even get in touch with them," said Bia, a 21-year-old University of Toronto Student who has been active in the youth advocacy space.

Bia was one of the many youths who did not vote for this year's municipal election, partly from the chaos of her move, paired with a lack of information on Candidates in her area. She explained how frustrating it was to seek out information from the Vote Durham website only to see candidates' names and no candidates website or social media to learn about their platform. Bia had to find information through searching, preventing her from quickly learning about each candidate.

"They never showed up on my feed anywhere on social media, which is like where most youths are. So, why aren't folks capitalizing on that?" said Bia.

Bia’s response isn't surprising, considering a report from Elections Canada for the 2011 federal elections, which found that lack of knowledge about candidates was a barrier youth faced when it came to voting.

Compared to older voters, Gen Z voters consume their media from networking applications, according to Elections Canada. For Bia, getting youth to vote means providing accessible information. "Youth are not going to come to you. You cannot complain about low youth voter engagement but do nothing to rectify that issue".

¹https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontarioelection-low-voter-turnout-1.6629007

²https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontarioelection-low-voter-turnout-1.6629007

³https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/42-280001/2021001/article/00006-eng.htm

4https://www.elections.ca/content. aspx?section=res&dir=rec/part/ nysr&document=p6&lang=e

5https://www.elections.ca/content. aspx?section=res&dir=rec/part/ genz&document=p3&lang=e

6https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/cgi/viewcontent. cgi?article=1088&context=major-papers

Link to Interviews https://otter.ai/u/74U8V_cvLQMFQ32W6wpyvApO9ec https://otter.ai/u/74U8V_cvLQMFQ32W6wpyvApO9ec https://otter.ai/u/PnRzWxiWBsOXuRGq6HYdD6-NFZ

The gut microbiome –a symbiotic guest living inside you that weighs two kilograms, contains 100 trillion microbes, and is larger than the span of your brain–wasn’t thought to exist for most of human history. Until microbiologist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek discovered the existence of the human microbiome in the 1600s, the idea that microscopic organisms could even alter human health was unheard of. Later, physician Alexander Fleming demonstrated that infections could be treated by antibiotics, which work by killing all microorganisms, paving the way for future research that led to the discovery of the gut microbiome. Now we understand that while antibiotics are certainly beneficial to treat infections and disease, most bacteria in our gut are considered to be “good” bacteria– in fact, 99% of our gut bacteria have a mutualistic relationship with our bodies, meaning that they benefit from living in our gut, and we benefit from being their hosts. These benefits include a strong immune system, improved appetite, metabolism and digestion.¹

Not only is a healthy gut microbiome beneficial to your health, but the consequences of poor gut health can be severe. The best way to improve one’s gut health is to have a healthy diet; because the gut microbiome is so diverse, it thrives on a diet rich in color, fiber, fermented foods, and live bacterial cultures.² Even common beverages contribute to gut health – coffee and tea – encourage growth of good bacteria while inhibiting the growth of harmful bacteria.

Current research points to the benefit of Islamic practice and prophetic sunnah³ on our gut microbiome. Fasting in Ramadan has been shown to improve the health of the gut microbiome, by increasing the diversity of bacteria species in the gut.4 Sunnah foods like dates, olives, pomegranates, figs, and black seeds are not only considered to be “superfoods” with a host of health benefits,5 but also promote gut health. However, just as it is important to consume a diet that helps your gut bacteria, it’s also important to avoid causing harm. One of the biggest culprits in this regard are excess sugars and refined carbohydrates, which affect the composition of the gut microbiome by proliferating the growth of “bad” bacteria and silencing “good” gut bacteria, leading to inflammation in the gut.

Perhaps most fascinating is that the gut is now being called the “second brain” or “little brain” in our body, and the relationship between the gut and brain via the gut-brain axis is presently a hot topic of research. The gut-brain axis involves two-way communication between the central nervous system, and the enteric nervous system, where gut bacteria generate neurotransmitters that impact mood, like dopamine and serotonin. This means that the emotional and cognitive centers of the brain are influenced by what occurs in your gut. Conversely, the reverse is also true: your thoughts affect your gut. Thus, cultivating positive thoughts and managing negative emotions like stress can shift your gut microbiome for the better–that’s some food for thought.

¹Valdes, Ana M., et al. "Role of the gut microbiota in nutrition and health." Bmj 361 (2018).

²McDonald, Daniel, et al. "American gut: an open platform for citizen science microbiome research." Msystems 3.3 (2018): e00031-18.

³Traditions and practice of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)

4Su, Junhong, et al. "Remodeling of the gut microbiome during Ramadan-associated intermittent fasting." The American journal of clinical nutrition 113.5 (2021): 1332-1342.

5Ali, Sharique A., Naima Parveen, and Ayesha S. Ali. "Links between the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) recommended foods and disease management: A review in the light of modern superfoods." International journal of health sciences 12.2 (2018): 61.

Ping.

Your latest notification comes in: it’s a few reactions to the latest story you uploaded on Instagram. You never intended to be using your phone; you set this time aside to study, get some work done, maybe even sleep early.

But now, you’re distracted.

Suddenly, you are caught in a seemingly endless wave of notifications you feel the need to respond to. A few hours have gone by–and you are no closer to finishing up studying than you were when you began. You hate to admit it, but this happens more often than you’d like. You feel trapped, caught in an endless hatelove-relationship with your phone.

Does this sound familiar?

Our brain function relies on a number of neurotransmitters, which are chemical messengers that transmit signals from one neuron to a target cell. Most relevant to explain the addictiveness of technology and social media is the neurotransmitter dopamine.¹ Dopamine is a central part of the brain’s reward system and is considered a “feel-good neurotransmitter.” It has wide-ranging benefits that include enhancing mood and motivation, in addition to mediating complex processes like learning and emotional response.¹ Whether you are eating your favourite food or scrolling your TikTok feed, the release of dopamine is followed by feelings of pleasure and reward. Since your brain recognizes dopamine is associated with these activities, this creates a reward system, with dopamine involved as a key player. Without even realizing it, you may start to feel the need to perpetuate the dopamine loop–a cycle of motivation, reward, and reinforcement.

In the case of social media, this is not accidental. As New York Times writer David Brooks shared, “Tech companies understand what causes dopamine surges in the brain and they lace their products with ‘hijacking techniques’ that lure us in and create ‘compulsion loops’”.² A former Facebook Investor even describes himself as a “conscientious objector” to social media, noting that the success of social media companies can be attributed to “exploiting a vulnerability in human psychology.”³

Is there a way to minimize distractions from our dopamine-engineered digital sphere? Consider implementing the following evidence-based strategy: deep work.4 Deep work, dubbed the “superpower of the twenty-first century” is a term coined by Cal Newport, referring to “professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate.”4 To undertake deep work, start time-blocking with the Pomodoro method,5 then gradually increase the amount of time you work without distraction. Reward yourself for any small victories–dopamine-release works both ways and can help you positively reinforce your new habits.6

The next time you get a notification, take a moment to pause. Ask yourself: can this wait? I promise, more often than not, it can.

¹https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/basics/ dopamine

²https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/ mar/04/has-dopamine-got-us-hooked-on-techfacebook-apps-addiction ³https://www.theverge. com/2017/12/11/16761016/former-facebookexec-ripping-apart-society

4Newport, Cal. Deep work : rules for focused success in a distracted world. 1st ed. New York; Boston: Grand Central Publishing, 2016.

5https://todoist.com/productivity-methods/ pomodoro-technique

6https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/ pnas.1014269108