Wake-up call for Canadian Muslims

MOHAMMED AZHAR ALI KHAN

November 06, 2014
Wake-up call for Canadian Muslims
Wake-up call for Canadian Muslims

Mohammed Azhar Ali Khan

 

 

 

 MOHAMMED AZHAR ALI KHAN

 

 

 

Canadian Muslims have reasons to be gratified with how their fellow Canadians responded to the killing of two Canadian soldiers by converts to Islam. Canadian authorities and average citizens did not blame Muslims or Islam. They reached out to Muslims. Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau in his statement spoke highly of Canadian Muslims. New Democratic Party leader Thomas Mulcair called them brothers. When a mosque was vandalized in Cold Lake, Alberta, neighbors helped to repair the damage and expressed solidarity with Muslims.

 

However, there are ominous signs that should serve as a wake-up call to Canadian Muslims. They built mosques and tried to ensure that their coming generations would remain loyal to Islam. These are worthy goals. But now they need to work energetically to achieve new objectives - teaching Muslims the real Islam of peace, justice and human brotherhood that the Holy Qur’an teaches and the Prophet (peace be upon him) practiced, making sure that Muslims become responsible citizens, helping the vulnerable in the community like disillusioned youth and abused women, and working with fellow Canadians to promote human rights and dignity for all Canadians. If they fail to do so, they might forfeit the good will of Canadians and be seen as a potential threat.

 

This is partly because of the killing of innocent people in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan and some other Muslim countries, the crimes of the so-called Islamic State, Boko Haram, the Taliban and similar groups.

 

As journalist Fareed Zakaria wrote in the Washington Post: “In 2013, of the top 10 groups that perpetrated terrorist attacks, seven were Muslim. Of the top 10 countries where terrorist attacks took place, seven were Muslim-majority. The Pew Research Center rates countries on the level of restrictions that governments impose on the free exercise of religion. Of the 24 most restrictive countries, 19 are Muslim-majority. Of the 21 countries that have laws against apostasy, all have Muslim majorities.

  

“There is a cancer of extremism within Islam today. A small minority of Muslims celebrates violence and intolerance and harbors deeply reactionary attitudes towards women and minorities.”

 

There have been terrorist attacks in Europe in recent years. In 2013, two British converts to Islam were found guilty of murdering a British soldier. In 2012, a Muslim killed three French soldiers, a rabbi and three Jewish children in France.  In 2009, a Muslim member of the US Army killed 13 people and wounded 32 people in Texas. There have been attacks in Indonesia and Kenya as well that killed dozens of innocent people.

 

In Canada, too, there had been attempts at violence even before the last two incidents. In 2006, security agencies arrested 18 Muslims for a plot to attack Parliament. Last year, two Muslims were charged with planning to derail a passenger train. This year, one Muslim was sentenced to 12 years in jail for terrorism while another one was given 24 years.

 

The attacks in the US have been attributed to US policies that kill innocent Muslims. Even so, two wrongs do not make a right. Islam prohibits the killing of innocent persons for any reason. And Canada cannot be accused of killing or facilitating the murders of Muslims. So when some deranged Muslims target the innocent in Canada, Islam and Muslims come under a dark cloud.

 

Islam is the only religion that is viewed negatively by a majority of Canadians, according to a poll. Recently, windows were smashed at the Assunnah mosque in Ottawa. The British Columbia Muslim Association received threats. Muslim candidates in the Ontario municipal election were harassed in Toronto. In Saskatchewan, a woman tried to run down a Calgary imam with her car. In Cold Lake and Fort Saskatchewan in Alberta, mosques were vandalized. Bullets were fired at the Pickering, Ont., Islamic Center. And so on.

 

These are stray incidents and police have boosted security measures at all mosques. But the authorities are also toughening legislation granting more powers to security agencies to keep a sharper eye on potential terrorists.

 

 Muslim leaders have themselves alerted authorities to some plots. If, however, there are more incidents of misguided Muslims plotting to kill innocent fellow citizens, anti-Muslim sentiments will rise greatly among Canadians. 

 

Yet Muslim leaders remain committed to old ways. They don’t work together with common goals.  Sunni mosques confer occasionally among themselves. They arrange prayers and religious lectures.  Women, youth and Shia organizations go their own way as well. A few years ago, a Muslim Coordinating Council was formed in the National Capital region to encourage Sunni, Shia, women’s, youth and ethnic organizations to work together to assist the frustrated youth, widows, refugees, mentally ill, disabled, new immigrants, seniors, etc. and to work with fellow Canadians of other faiths to promote human rights, dignity, justice and equality for all Canadians.

 

The council is making headway, but slowly. Canadian Muslim leaders are not used to working with other Muslims.  It remains to be seen whether Muslims and their leaders will wake up to confront their new challenges or whether they prefer to slumber on, arranging conferences, festivals and talks and ignoring serious problems (like Muslim youth in jails) and the real dangers that lie ahead. 

 

 

— Mohammed Azhar Ali Khan is a retired Canadian journalist, civil servant and refugee judge. 

November 06, 2014
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