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rfmcdonaldProfessor Mohamed I. Elmasry, president of the Canadian Islamic Congress, has done it again. It comes down to what he said in one of his regular Friday communiqués.
The people who he so harshly criticized, alas, have lawyers.
I'm not entirely surprised by this, given the past records of Elmasry and the Canadian Islamic Congress. Why do vigourously politically active people want to gain state and public recognition of their unquestioned leadership of their communities? Phrased that way, that's no longer a question.
Religious fascism is never a good thing--for public life, for private thoughts, or for religion for that matter--regardless of the religion. It's rather nice that the McGuinty government in Ontario took steps to prevent his ilk from gaining a foothold.
I know of no Canadian Jew, even atheist or non-practicing, who would make a personal cause out of smearing Judaism, ridiculing the Torah, badmouthing Moses, or proclaiming that the Halachah (Judaic Law) is backward and discriminates against women.
But it seems we Canadian Muslims are of a different breed.
For in the midst of our community we have members who are bent upon smearing Islam, ridiculing the Qur'an, badmouthing Mohamed, or go about proclaiming that Shariah (Islamic Law) is backward and discriminates against women.
[. . .]
[T]hese anti-Shariah Muslims accused Boyd of being naïve to trust Islamic Law. They cheered and celebrated when the government hastily announced that it would not only reject Sharia-based arbitration, but -- to be "politically correct" and avoid any suggestion of appearing racist or religionist -- would also cancel the existing rights of other religious groups.
Why was the use of Halachah in Israel deemed unrelated to its use by Ontario Jews for more than a decade, while the application of Shariah in Pakistan, Iran, or South Africa, etc. was negatively linked by these Muslims to its planned application in Ontario?
Shariah will only become relevant when Muslims in Canada can depend on secular members of their communities not to make a cause of publicly deriding their religion, badmouthing their Prophet, ridiculing the Qur'an -- and mounting uninformed crusades to smear their Islamic Law, the Shariah.
The people who he so harshly criticized, alas, have lawyers.
A lawyer representing the Muslim Canadian Congress sent a letter to Mohamed Elmasry, head of the Canadian Islamic Congress, demanding that he apologize for "false" accusations that those who criticize sharia are "smearing Islam, ridiculing the Koran [and] badmouthing Muhammad."
The MCC says that, in effect, Mr. Elmasry is accusing the group of blasphemy, a crime that carries the death sentence in several Islamic countries. MCC members now fear they will be arrested if they travel to Pakistan or Egypt, where some have relatives.
"Your false and utterly irresponsible accusations of blasphemy have exposed these active, dynamic and prominent members of the Canadian Muslim community and their families to enormously dangerous consequences," Arif Raza, MCC's lawyer, says in the letter sent to Mr. Elmasry.
I'm not entirely surprised by this, given the past records of Elmasry and the Canadian Islamic Congress. Why do vigourously politically active people want to gain state and public recognition of their unquestioned leadership of their communities? Phrased that way, that's no longer a question.
Religious fascism is never a good thing--for public life, for private thoughts, or for religion for that matter--regardless of the religion. It's rather nice that the McGuinty government in Ontario took steps to prevent his ilk from gaining a foothold.
