I am writing this email to bring to your attention the following news story, as you represent interests of the Muslim community here in Canada and I believe this story needs attention from our organizations before it results in increased Islamophobia and targeting of Muslim women by misguided elements of the society.
I am sure you all must be aware of the case of a blogger Raif Badawi who was sentenced in Saudi Arabia by a court for 10 years for what the court perceived as writings against Islam/establishment. His wife has been in Canada as a refugee campaigning for the bloggers release. She has received widespread support here from various organizations, media and politicians for her cause. The current liberal government of Canada has been actively involved in raising the bloggers issue with the Saudi government. His wife was approved for Canadian citizenship and received it yesterday i.e. on Canada Day (I am assuming as a symbolic gesture from the government).
I am saddened and appalled to find out that she has used this occasion (of her become a Canadian) to target Canadian Muslims and provoke Islamophobia and hatred towards Muslims who call Canada home, instead of embracing values of tolerance, inclusiveness and respecting all Canadians, as is expected from all new Canadians when they take the oath to become a part of the Canadian family.
As per the report on Global News she issued a statement to the media containing following text:
“As a refugee in Quebec and Canada I have noticed the fast growth of Islamist groups loyal to the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas and Saudi clergy imposing the Burqa and enforcing Niqab on girls and women as political flags to mark jihadi territory.” and…
“It is for this reason that on the first day as a Canadian I have raised the issue of banning the Burqa and Niqab in Ontario as I feel Premier Ford is a man who will listen to my plea and end the war by deception being waged by Islamists against Canadian values.”
You can read the entire article and her statement here: https://globalnews.ca/news/4307779/raif-badawi-wife-ensaf-haidar-burqa-ban/
I find her sudden reincarnation from claiming to be a victim of persecution till the time of taking oath as a new Canadian to someone demanding persecution of Canadian Muslim women who wear niqab deeply troubling and malicious. The tone of her statement clearly indicates her dislike for the Canadian Muslim community. From the comment section of this article you can see for yourself the amount of hatred she generated for Muslims here in Canada.
I feel that our organizations need to step up efforts to combat Islamophobia and victimization of Muslims here in Canada which from my own personal experience is on the rise. Unfortunately, despite the efforts that some of our organizations, we are in a situation where it is easy to isolate and target members of our community with impunity with little or no repercussions. On top of that we have paid actors within our community who for their own self interest are willing to go to lengths to attempt to discredit victims of Islamophobic incidents or to stop them from speaking up.
Unless we speak up more and make efforts to unify as a community we will unfortunately be resigned to be targeted because of our identity as a Muslim. I hope you will take a notice of this.
Best Regards,
Mohammad Yasser Khan
As salaam o Alaikom brothers and sisters,
We all thank Allah SWT for giving us the opportunity to build a Masjid in South Surrey/White Rock area.
As we all know, we incur monthly expenses to run the Masjid. These are mainly the utilities, strata and other activities that we do at the Masjid.
I request all brothers and sisters to please help us financially with the Masjid expenses.
We will be collecting the donations on Friday during and after the Halaqa. You can pay by check or cash. Please help with the expenses as much as you can.
Allah (SWT) will have a bigger reward for you in the hereafter In Sha Allah.
Also we will also be collecting money from brothers and sisters that have purchased the burial plots.
Sincerely,
Ali Khan , Treasurer
White Rock Muslim Association
White Rock Muslim Association Donation Appeal
As salaam o Alaikom brothers and sisters,
We all thank Allah SWT for giving us the opportunity to build a Masjid in South Surrey/White Rock area.
As we all know, we incur monthly expenses to run the Masjid. These are mainly the utilities, strata and other activities that we do at the Masjid.
I request all brothers and sisters to please help us financially with the Masjid expenses.
We will be collecting the donations on Friday during and after the Halaqa. You can pay by check or cash. Please help with the expenses as much as you can.
Allah (SWT) will have a bigger reward for you in the hereafter In Sha Allah.
Also we will also be collecting money from brothers and sisters that have purchased the burial plots.
Sincerely,
Ali Khan , Treasurer
White Rock Muslim Association
