Muhammad Robert Heft (born November 4, 1972, in Winnipeg, Manitoba) is a Canadian Muslim activist.
Coming from a German and Irish background, Heft spent his childhood and majority of his life in a small town outside of Toronto. Raised as a nominal Protestant Christian,[1] Heft converted to Islam in 1998 after which he studied Islam with qualified scholars[which?] for over 7 years. He began his community involvement in 2003, and since then, has gone on to take part in a variety of government and community initiatives.
In 2007 Heft was made a representative for the Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Humanitarian and Charity Est. for all of Canada, and he holds this position today.[2]
In 2008 he started the Stop Terrorism cause, which is a global and online cause which claims to have 20,000 members.[3][failed verification]
In 2009 Heft formally started working with “youth at risk” and designed a 3-step "de-radicalization" program for Muslim Canadians. Through this program he has helped many youth who have turned towards radicalization and brought them away from that destructive state.[citation needed]
Judge Dawson court approved Heft in 2010 as a de-radicalization counsellor in for Steven Vikash Chand, one of the “Toronto 18” arrested for involvement in the 2006 Ontario terrorism plot.[4]
Heft continues to support government agencies on efforts of de-radicalization and is also supported by former MPs of the federal government, Derek Lee and Dan McTeague.[5]