Dr. Jamal Badawi is one of the world’s most widely-recognized scholars, having authored several works on Islam and lectured in more than 30 countries.

He is “Professor Emeritus” at St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, where he served as professor of both management and religious studies.
He completed his undergraduate studies in Cairo, Egypt, and his master’s and Ph.D. degrees at Indiana University.
He is also very active in journalism and broadcasting. He designed and presented a 352-segment television series on Islam, many of which were shown all over the world.
He is a member of the Islamic Fiqh Council of North America, The European Council of Fatwa and Research, and the International Union of Islamic Scholars.
On a recent visit to southern California, InFocus caught up with the highly sought-after scholar.

InFocus: What has living in Canada taught you about yourself and about your religion?
Jamal Badawi: Well, in fact, I lived both in the United States and Canada. I lived for seven years in the United States before moving to Canada. Generally speaking, there are a great deal of similarities, culturally and otherwise, except that perhaps the general tenor in Canada is more of a moderate type where people are typically more accepting; not more accepting than Americans in that sense, but the pace of life is not as fast, perhaps, in many places in Canada – except for big cities – as it is in the United States.
Plurality is an official policy of Canada, so that might also be a plus. There is no attempt to have a so-called “melting pot” as is the case in the United States. Even though the “melting pot” is not really perfect in the United States – as you know, people are still practicing their own cultures within the boundaries of the law.
What I’m saying is that in Canada, generally speaking, it’s an official policy, and the government has been encouraging it, but like plurality in any society, whether in the United States, Canada or Europe, for that matter, you will find voices also are speaking against it. [These are] people who I might call culture chauvinists. I think the notion of plurality, respecting the law and respecting also people of diverse backgrounds, is the only reasonable way to go. It is not necessarily a threat to the integrity or unity of any society or country for that matter. Actually, diversity is good in that sense. It’s enriching.

IF: What is the state of the Ummah in Canada?
JB: Well, it is not much different than the United States, but the recent restrictions of freedoms because of the claim for security concerns in the United States has made Canada ahead in that particular respect. I’m not saying it’s perfect, either. 

IF: What is more strict about the security measures in the United States?
JB: [There is] an encroachment on civil liberties, as many Americans themselves are saying. The Patriot Act, for example, is giving disproportional power. There was an article recently in Time magazine and many other periodicals about some instances of abuse of power; because once you give too much unchecked or poorly checked authority, there are cases of abuse. 
There have been also abuses in Canada as well, like arbitrary arrest of people and so on. This was for many immigrants, and there was also some unfairness with the so-called “security certificates,” where people were put in jail for a long period of time. I’m not saying it’s very rosy, but I’m saying that generally speaking, at least, people are relatively more secure in terms of their freedom and rule of law pertaining to liberties in spite of security measures in Canada. Quite frankly, the United States is not the same United States that I knew for a long period of time [while] I was here and was traveling back and forth.
I can understand, of course, the difference here, because, after all, the 9/11 attack targeted the United States in particular, so perhaps this might have contributed to the atmosphere that led many Islamophobes to paint Muslims with a broad brush.
The McCarthyism that many Americans resent seems to have raised its head in this atmosphere of fear. And, of course, it leads to emergence of fear mongers whose main purpose is to blemish Islam and tarnish it and attack it — and they had a field day as a result of this unfortunate event. 
I’m just hoping things will get better — the real idea that is consistent with the image of the Constitution and the purpose of the founding fathers of this great country.

IF: What are Muslims in Canada doing for suffering people around the world?
JB: Alhamdulillah, like the case of the United States and Europe and other countries, we have a number of charitable organizations registered with the federal government and, alhamdulillah, they are quite active in raising funds for charitable purposes all over the world.  Special fundraisers are held whenever there is a flood, or like the siege on the people of Gaza and so on. 

IF:  How has work with other religious communities helped your congregation and Islam’s perception in Canada?
JB: A whole lot. It is a reason to be grateful to Allah that the Muslim community in Halifax has been in the forefront in being among the early founders of the Halifax region and municipality Interfaith Council, which also includes – besides Jews, Christians and Muslims – other religions like Sikhs, Hindus, Daoists and Baha’is.
It’s quite an open one for all communities.  We meet once a month to eat lunch. We rotate where we meet, from a synagogue and a church to a mosque.
These meetings have generated a sense of friendship among the leaders of those communities. Without saying a word, the image of Islam improved because people saw who the Muslims are when they interacted with them.
By the grace of Allah, the Muslim members representing the community are highly loved and respected by leaders of the other religious communities.
Through formal discussion, also, many misconceptions about Islam have been alleviated. Alhamdulillah, many times, joint actions were taken. An example of that was a statement made by the council, not just Muslims but the whole council, with a press conference about the Danish cartoon scandal. That was a real area of solidarity that affirmed freedom of expression while condemning violent reaction, but also condemning the unjustified attack for no scholarly reason. It was an amazing statement, and attention was given to that by the media.
We haven’t done enough, I’m sure, and there’s a lot more to be done, but alhamdulillah, at least we’re moving in the right direction.

IF: What is your advice to Muslims in southern California?
JB: My advice to myself, and to my community and to all other communities, is as follows: Never lose sight of Allah being the focus of your attention and the ultimate decider of what is right and what is wrong, and seek His pleasure in anything mundane or otherwise that we do in our lives. 
Second, try to understand our faith on a more sophisticated level, because the Islamophobes are using all kinds of means and spending a lot of time to research things and try to find ways of spinning things, digging information that is mistaken in history books.
They try to use [falsities] as a means of tarnishing Islam and its teachings. I think we should keep in mind we need equally-sophisticated and well-researched, rational, factual responses to this – especially on the part of community leaders and youth who are dealing with the media and people who are engaged in interfaith activities.
They will all need to deepen [their] understanding and, like the Prophet (PBUH) said, learning should continue from birth to death, really. 
Thirdly, we’ll try to mentally apply this intention and that knowledge into the reality of our lives as individuals, families, communities.
This can be facilitated with the foundation and support of Islamic institutions like schools, youth centers, advocacy organizations and political organizations.
These are all things that are sanctioned by our faith, and I think we should translate that. We should be a positive and beneficial element in society at large.