Under Layered Suspicion: A Review of CRA Audits of Muslim-led Charities

Authors: Anver Emon, Nadia Hasan, Zeinab Farokhi

In this discussion, hosted by Zeinab Farokhi, Professor Anver Emon and Dr. Nadia Hasan share findings on how biases in Canada’s anti-terrorism financing and anti-radicalization regimes disproportionately target Muslim-led charities, leading to the revocation of their charitable status. The full report can be found at: layeredsuspicion.ca

The authors also discuss the nature of the project, the process of integrating academic research and public advocacy, and the implications of partnership models that calibrate academic research and community-engagement.

Anver Emon

Anver Emon is the Director of Islamic Studies at the University of Toronto, where he serves as a Professor in the Faculty of Law and the Department of History. Dr. Emon is also the Canada Research Chair in Islamic Law and History, and one of the Principal Investigators in the Reading Muslims Project. Dr. Emon’s extensive research career focuses on premodern and modern Islamic legal history and theory; premodern modes of governance and adjudication; and the role of Shari’a both inside and outside the Muslim world.

Nadia Hasan

Nadia Hasan has a PhD in Political Science from York University. As Chief Operating Officer, Nadia is part of the senior management team and she leads the NCCM’s organizational development, program management, and national operations. Nadia has several years of experience working on policy and programs at Canadian think tanks and NGOs and she has taught university courses in South Asian studies, religion and gender. Her doctoral research focused on Muslim women’s organizations and the practice of Islam in Canada and Pakistan.

Zeinab Farokhi

Zeinab Farokhi is a doctoral candidate at the Women and Gender Studies Institute and Diaspora and Transnational studies, University of Toronto. She received her M.A in Women and Gender Studies, University of Toronto, and an M.A in Sociology from Osmania University, India, and B.A in History from Isfahan University, Iran. Her research interests include cyber feminism, transnational feminisms and diasporic studies. Her current doctoral work compares the usage of Twitter by Islamophobic right-wing extremists in India, Canada, and the US, focusing on anti-Muslim rhetoric in Hindu nationalist/white nationalist discourse.