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October 8, 2009 Top Egyptian cleric says niqabhas nothing to do with Islam
Muslim Canadian Congress
TORONTO - The Muslim Canadian Congress (MCC) is asking Ottawa to introduce legislation to ban the wearing of masks, niqabs and the burka in all public dealings. In a statement, the MCC said, not only is the wearing of a face-mask a security hazard and has led to a number of bank heists in Canada and overseas, the burka or niqab are political symbols of Saudi inspired Islamic extremism. The MCC dismissed the argument that wearing of a face-mask by Muslim women is protected by the Charter's guarantee of religious freedom. The MCC said, there is no requirement in the Quran for Muslim women to cover their faces. Invoking religious freedom to conceal one's identity and promote a political ideology, is disingenuous. The MCC pointed to the the recent decision by Egypt's highest Muslim authority, Sheikh Mohamed Tantawi, dean of al-Azhar university, who said he will issue a Fatwa (religious edict) against the niqab and burka. The Egyptian newspaper al-Masri al-Yom quoted Sheikh Tantawi as saying the niqab was merely a cultural tradition and had no connection to religion or the Quran. The MCC said if there is any doubt about the religiosity of the burka, one should take a look at the holiest place for Muslims — the grand mosque in Mecca. For over 1,400 years, Muslim men and women have prayed in what we believe is the House of God, and for all these centuries, female visitors have been explicitly prohibited from covering their faces. Farzana Hassan, communications director of the MCC said, "Islamists are defending the burka as if it was the central pillar of Islam. They consider Muslim women who do not cover their heads and faces--the vast majority -- as sinners or lesser Muslims. "It is of utmost importance that the Canadian government take the lead and end this medieval misogynist practise once and for all," Ms. Hassan added. The MCC statement regretted that while the rest of the world is moving toward the goal of gender equality, right here in Canada Islamists are pushing back the clock, convincing educated Muslim women, they are no more than sexual objects and a source of sin, if they reveal their faces in public. - 30 --For more information, please call Sohail Raza at (416) 505-1613 |
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