Terry Newman: Integration or Islamicization?

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Aziz then argued that to create wealth, Muslims must build a “circular economy,” where they buy from their own community. Aziz said that he is trying to develop an infrastructure solution where Muslims can avoid using fiat currency, and instead back their wealth in gold. That solution is called Phi Wallet.

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Aziz told them that for every dollar that Jews spend, 92 to 97 cents stays within the Jewish community.

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ShariaPortfolio document which was made available to attendees at the LIT convention in Laval, QC, on July, 26, 2026. Postmedia

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I emailed Aziz for a comment about his remarks. His responded by saying that he “did not suggest that Muslims should limit themselves to an insular economy supporting only Muslim-owned businesses, and claiming that, “At a time of rising Islamophobia, Canadian Muslims, like all Canadians, should consider buying Canadian first, and should also support businesses owned by disenfranchised communities.”

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Aziz did not, however, promote buying Canadian products in his speech as I heard it.

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Barakah.com promotional material available at LIT convention in Laval, QC, on July 26, 2026.

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In regards to the story about the well, and whether it could be interpreted as antisemitic, Aziz said: “Within the Muslim scholastic tradition, we are taught that selfishness and generosity are found in every faith community; that there are Muslims who fall short, just as there are Jewish and Christian figures held up as models of ethical behaviour, and vice versa.”

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He further denied suggesting that youth amass wealth to buy politicians, and claimed that the Israel lobby’s attempts to do so are “well established.”

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In regards to the claim that 92 to 97 cents of every dollar Jews spend stays within their community, when asked for a source to back up this claim, Aziz provided two,neither of which supported his figures in my reading.

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In his response, Aziz also took a shot at Quebec, saying: “I would also note the irony in raising concerns about integration in the context of Quebec, a province that has repeatedly sought to separate from Canada and has a documented record of discriminating against minorities.”

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In his speech, Daood Butt — director of community outreach and education at the Islamic Community Center in Milton, Ont. — told the audience that their friends “will either help them in life or encourage them to go down a path that is wrong and bad for them, and there will be a point in time where our friends need to stop us from committing haram (sins)” and help them turn to Allah instead.

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Butt warned the audience that the habits and lifestyles of their closest friends would eventually become their own. This is why, he explained, “Your friends should be people who, when you look at them, they remind you of Allah.”

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Butt also told the youth that some things are just haram (forbidden): “Sometimes you find a brother who says, ‘This is my girlfriend.’ OK, that’s weird, right? But we live in a society where yes, young brothers and sisters are going to school, going to university, and they have friends, and those friends get a lot closer to them, and they become boyfriend and girlfriend, and that we know in Islam is not permissible, right?'”

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Asked whether he would advise Muslim youth not to have Christian, Jews or atheist friends, Butt told National Post that, “I urge Canadians and especially young people to reflect on their friends, and whether their friends, both Muslim and non-Muslim, help them improve as ethical beings or are bad company that take them away from being the highest versions of themselves.”

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Asked about dating being haram for Muslim youth, which is likely not the case for many of their peers, Butt replied, “I encourage youth, and adults as well, to respect the institution of marriage and its sanctity.”

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In his speech, Yasir Nadeem al Wajidi, founder and president of a private K-12 Islamic school in Illinois, argued that rules in western societies come from human legislators instead of Allah, and that Muslim youth have been “brainwashed” by the western paradigm.