Muslim communities across Canada are on edge after a series of attacks at mosques during Ramadan.
Last week, a man entered a mosque in Markham, Ontario - a suburb of Toronto - and began to shout threats and racial slurs at worshippers as he tore apart a Quran.
He then proceeded to exit the mosque, get in a vehicle and attempt to run over a worshipper, the Islamic Society of Markham said in a statement.
York Regional Police have arrested Sharan Karunakaran, 28, and charged him with making threats, assault with a weapon and dangerous driving.
Canada’s newly appointed special representative on combating Islamophobia visited the mosque on Monday and met members of the local community.
“Sadly, the attack at the Markham mosque is not an isolated incident,” Amira Elghawaby said on twitter.
“It comes after a number of recent hate-motivated attacks and leaves communities uneasy and fearful for their loved ones who frequent places of worship.”
Days after the Markham incident, a man drove up to another mosque in Markham, blocked the entrance and shouted derogatory comments at worshippers.
Ramadan 2023 around the world - in pictures
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People receive free sweet drinks for iftar in Peshawar, Pakistan. EPA -
Muslim worshipers perform taraweeh prayers for Ramadan at Al Basha Mosque in Mosul, Iraq. Reuters -
Policeman Ahmed fires a traditional Ramadan cannon to announce iftar in Cairo, Egypt. EPA -
A girl at Quran recitation classes during Ramadan in Srinagar, Indian-controlled Kashmir. AP -
Confectioners prepare traditional sweets for Ramadan in the Sadria district of central Baghdad. AFP -
Muslim students offer prayers during Ramadan at an Islamic boarding school in Medan, Indonesia. AFP -
A Muslim woman views Canary Wharf in the City of London during an Iftar event at 22 Bishopsgate. EPA -
Morocco's King Mohammed VI and Crown Prince Moulay launch the nationwide Ramadan 1444 operation in the city of Sale, north of the capital Rabat, to assist five million disadvantaged Moroccans in Ramadan. AFP -
Volunteers prepare Ramadan pre-dawn suhoor meals for distribution in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Saturday. AFP -
Afghanistan and Pakistan’s T20 teams pray together on the second day of Ramadan before play at Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Worshippers attend prayers on the first Friday of the holy month at the Kocatepe Mosque in Ankara, Turkey. AFP -
An iftar cannon is fired at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi on the first Friday of Ramadan. Victor Besa / The National -
Muslims after Friday prayers at the Ali Jim'ale Mosque in Mogadishu, Somalia. Reuters -
Men pray at the Grand Mosque, Khartoum. AP -
Prayers at the main mosque during Ramadan in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. EPA -
Worshippers after prayers on first day of Ramadan at the Kowloon Mosque in Hong Kong. AP -
Visitors buy cotton candy at an entertainment area in Tripoli. AFP -
Muslims break their fast in a street in Abidjan in Ivory Coast. EPA -
Palestinians celebrate the lighting of Ramadan lanterns in Jerusalem's Old City. EPA -
A street lit up for Ramadan in the West End of London. EPA -
Ukrainian Muslims break their fast at the Ar-Rahma Mosque in Kyiv. EPA -
Muslims gather for free Iftar meals at Sheikh Abdul Qader Gilani mosque in Baghdad. AP -
Muslims gather before the Kaaba in Makkah as they perform the maghrib prayer to mark the end of the first day of fasting at the Grand Mosque. AFP -
Muslims seated for iftar in Adiyaman, Turkey. EPA -
A volunteer prepares iftar food at the Data Darbar shrine in Lahore, Pakistan. AFP -
A Palestinian woman reads the Quran during the first day of Ramadan, at Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem. Reuters -
People look through binoculars and a telescope to view the crescent moon marking the start of Ramadan, in Najaf, Iraq. Reuters -
Prayers at Al Bidya Mosque in Fujairah, the oldest mosque in the UAE, a day before Ramadan. Leslie Pableo for The National -
Women pray during the first evening of Ramadan at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Solo, Indonesia. Reuters -
Members of the Muslim Scout Association play drums during events to mark the beginning of the holy fasting month, in Sidon, Lebanon. Reuters -
Worshippers perform taraweeh evening prayers at Al Azhar Mosque, in Cairo. Reuters -
A tent mosque set up after February's powerful earthquake in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. EPA -
A man sits inside a mosque on the first day of Ramadan, in Marikina, the Philippines. AP -
The first morning prayers of Ramadan at Al Farooq Omar bin Al Khattab Mosque in Dubai. Antonie Robertson / The National -
A Palestinian man sells traditional Ramadan lanterns, called fanous, in Gaza City. EPA -
A woman shops for Ramadan decorations, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Reuters -
Abu Dhabi's Bani Hashim Mosque, on the first morning of Ramadan. Khushnum Bhandari / The National
York Regional Police arrested Mohssen Bayani, 47, on April 10 on several charges of assault and one count of mischief.
In Montreal, police are investigating a possible hate crime after a man used a rock to break into Al-Omah Al-Islamiah mosque on Sunday.
“It is an unfortunate reality that as much as we're trying to fight and stand up against hate and Islamophobia, we have witnessed especially during the month of Ramadan, spreading, almost like fire incidents of Islamophobia,” Samer Majzoub, president of the Canadian Muslim Forum, told The National.
The Muslim community has increasingly become the target of prejudice during Ramadan.
“Muslims are more visible, Muslims are going to the mosque more often to pray, Muslims are congregating in one place and so people who harbour nefarious intentions towards the Muslim communities tend to see this as a perfect opportunity to try to harm us,” Stephen Brown, chief executive of the National Council of Canadian Muslims, told The National.
Canada has seen a rise in violence against Muslims in recent years, punctuated by the Quebec City mosque shooting of 2017, when a man entered the Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec City and killed six worshippers and injured five others.
A report by Statistics Canada revealed that hate crimes against Muslims increased by 71 per cent in 2021.
