On Friday February 10th, while returning from afternoon prayers, Montreal Imam Sheikh Faycal Zirari was attacked and stabbed at the Iberville Metro Station. Sheikh Faycal, who was wearing visibly a traditional Muslim garbs, was accompanied by 3 other Muslim men at the time of the incident. A man started yelling at him inside the metro station in Spanish. The assailant then punched Shaikh Faycal in the face. The ensuing scuffle spilled onto the sidewalk, where the attacker stabbed Shaikh Faycal in the arm and leg, breaking the knife's blade in his arm before the his friends could restrain him and call the police. Sheikh Faycal was taken to the hospital where he remains and is recovering.

The Muslim Council Of Montreal looks upon this incident with very grave concerns and directly holds some of the media outlets responsible for what has happened. Recent hyperbolic comments and reporting by certain radio talk show hosts and media commentators regarding the cartoon issue has created a poisonous and hostile social environment and, as a result, passions have been inflamed to the point where some people are getting the idea it is acceptable to physically attack Muslims or anyone they think looks like one.

This incident comes on the heels of two recent acts of vandalism on two Montreal area mosques, the Islamic Cultural Centre and the Al-Hissane Islamic Centre, which were pelted with stones.

MCM is also receiving informal reports that Muslims are being verbally abused on the streets, feeling threatened and, as a result, feel unsafe.