When the concept of “multiculturalism” was introduced to Canadians, most assumed it meant “more pavilions at Folkfest”;
A 16-year-old girl is in critical condition after being choked by a man believed to be her father, apparently after a dispute with her family over her refusal to wear the hijab, the Islamic headscarf worn by some Muslim women.
Peel Regional Police arrested a 57-year-old man yesterday morning after receiving a 911 call from a suburban home in Mississauga from a man saying he had killed his daughter. When police and paramedics arrived at the house they found a 16-year-old lying on the floor without any vital signs, police said.
[…]
Friends of the teenager, a Grade 11 student at nearby Applewood Heights high school, identified her as Aqsa Parvez and said they were shocked by the attack on the outgoing, likeable girl, but said she had been threatened by her strictly religious family before.
“She got threatened by her father and her brother,” said Dominiquia Holmes-Thompson, who had known Aqsa since they both started high school together. “He said that if she leaves, he would kill her.”
Ebonie Mitchell, 16, another friend of the victim, said the conflict with her father over wearing Islamic dress came to a head at the beginning of this school year. “She just wanted to dress like we do,” she said.
“Last year she wore like the Islamic stuff and everything, the hijab, and this year she’s all Western. She just wanted to look like everyone else. And I guess her dad had a problem with that.”
Aqsa Parvez has now reportedly died. A commentor at the linked site has it right. In addition to murder charges, this case demands to be prosecuted as a hate crime.
Criticise such an incident as a problem of Islam, and you are called a bigot, because, as the multicultural line goes, there are many moderate Muslims who would never even think of doing such a thing.
But where were the moderate Muslims in Mississauga who could save Aqsa? They weren’t around. Where were the same moderate Muslims in Mississauga who could stop the 18 from planning the terrorist attack as they did in 2006? I’m not denying that there are moderate Muslims, I’m denying that we can depend on these moderate Muslims to do anything about the not-so moderate elements.
We are fools to place our faith in these moderates. Looking beyond the here and now, as Canada stands on its current path, looking down this path of multiculturalism and mass immigration from Muslim-majority countries, into a future where Canada will become majority Muslim, what guarantee do we have that non-Muslims won’t be reduced to the status that non-Muslims now have in Saudi Arabia? Or that Zoroastrians now have in Iran? Or that Yazidis have in Iraq? Or that Buddhists have in the Maldives? Or that Christians have in Egypt? Are there not “moderate Muslims” in all those countries? Yet those moderates have not prevented the disenfranchisement of the non-Muslims that once flourished in those lands. Why should we expect any different in Canada?
he murdered his healthy sixteen year old daughter.
robert latimer comes to mind here, in that there are 2 completely scenarios. one passion the other compassion
But Islam is not the Way to Love.
Absolutely agree with you lookout and I have never said that it is any way to love. Islam is fully rooted in human nature and therefore at its core is evil just as is any other man made religion. What I was posting about “seeking beyond” ourselves is reaching out to the only One who can grant us a new nature. A nature not of our own. However that same new nature calls us not to hate and loathe the very people who most need this new nature. Rather it calls upon us to work all the harder that they too may find the Mercy and Grace that has overtaken us.
How long before the media shifts this incident over to “Muslim community concerned about backlash” sob stories?
2 days?
I’m sure the father’s honour killing is the negligent act of one and should not be used to judge the masses. However, if 2% of all Muslims are “extremists” why don’t the 98% that are not, stand up and show the world why Islam is a “religion of peace” how may candle ceremonies will be held for this young innocent girl? How many foundations, scholarships and fundraisers named in honour of this young girl will be initiated by Muslims, not one!!!
It is so sad, reading all the bloggers statements; everyone has lost sight of the tragic event that has taken place!!! This girl or her children could have contributed and benefited humanity in some profound way!! (Cured Aids, become a political leader, great Canadian poet) and yet we’ll never know now!!! Because here delusional father decided to climb over here frail petit body and wrap is hands around her 13 inch neck and suck every last breathe from her lips!!! All because she wouldn’t where a piece of fabric!!! The prison of cloth…There is no honour in this!! Aqsa don’t worry now, you can where whatever you want!!!
Just a matter of father and son reacting badly to some good natured ribbing at the ol’ mosque.
The hijab is the tangible sign of the black straight jacket of Islam.
I guess beheading has fallen out of favour with the “traditionalists”.
ouch, I know…..but is there anything different here?
The culture that leads to this. . .
Caution to any starry eyed Canadian / USA young lady charmed by a wealthy Saudi man.
=========== from a Saudi in the UK;
Her husband can marry up to 3 other wives. Yes, in material terms, he must treat them equally. But his affection will obviously not be split 4 ways.
If she is caught herself in adultery, she will be stoned to death. Yes, it happens, it’s just not reported these days.
She has equality of education. Like men, she can go to university. However her career choice is limited.
She can work in the Ladies’ branch of a bank. She can teach female pupils. That*s about it. She can’t even, at the moment, be a flight attendant on Saudi Aiirlines.
If she’s very lucky, she can work in the *ladies only* floor of the Kingdom Shopping Center in Riyadh. But she can’t work on the perfume counter of a regular shop, or in a lingerie shop; you’ll find Lebanese men doing that.
She may well be wealthy in her own right, and own a business. However she can’t manage it, if that would bring her into contact with men.
She can’t drive. She can of course walk to the shops. Try that wearing black artificial fiber head-to-toe, in temperatures up to 50 celsius. (We men, of course, wear cool white cotton). Drivers are within the reach of many family incomes; but leave them at the door of the shopping center, otherwise you’ll both be arrested.
She’ll find it difficult to go out *with the girls*. Many restaurants will not allow a group of unaccompanied women in. Same problem by herself. The safest way to get into the *Family* section of a restaurant, is with husband and / or children.
She can of course entertain her lady friends at home. That assumes her husband allows it. Many Saudi homes have bars on the windows, and the women are locked in during the day.
At home, she can do whatever she wants to amuse herself. However, there are clearly few opportunities to fulfil herself. Typically, therefore, she will start a family early. We have one of the highest birth-rates in the world.
If she has domestic problems, there is no network of support groups. Her family may help, it depends. Having got her married with some difficulty, they may be unwilling to take her back again.
The story of women in Saudi Arabia is one of unending tragedy. They are our mothers, our wives, our daughters, yet on the whole we treat them like our cattle. It’s a story that needs to change.
muttawa.blogspot.com/2004_04_01_archive.html
================== dated but still applies today.
= TG
I don’t think Joe would have like Elijah.
1 Kings 18:25 And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under.
1 Kings 18:26 And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made.
1 Kings 18:27 And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked.
1 Kings 18:28 And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them.
Reminds me of the reaction to the mocking of mohammad in the cartoons.
It should be noted that Elijah later killed these prophets of Baal who used their own children as sacrifices. Not so very different from this father who sacrificed his daughter on the altar of a dress code. Or Robert Latimer, who sacrificed his daughter on the altar of his own phobia of medical procedures.
Nowadays we don’t go around killing these prophets of doom (at least within our own country where the rule of law is available), but we can kill their ideology. One of the ways we can do that is to mock that ideology when it is strategically beneficial.
I appreciate your comments, Joe, but I don’t think the postings here display so much hate and loathing as hard headed reality about evil in our midst. (The complicity of moderate Muslims, who remain silent–millions of them, worldwide–is also part of the evil.)
Christianity teaches that evil must be named before it can be redeemed. I think some naming’s going on here.
No doubt, Hana would be considered a “moderate”. And look at the arrogant exclusion she proclaims, on our dime, with her head held high! The legion of “modest and moderate” Hanas out there are definitely part of the problem. And, with impunity, they’re allowed to exploit our tolerance in order to spout their immoderate version of exclusion and intolerance. Then, when we protest, WE’RE called bigots.
No thanks.
And, Joe, I don’t believe you should buy into that way of thinking.
Christianity teaches that evil must be named before it can be redeemed.
Luke 17:3 Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.
The Phantom: Should some of these so-far-silent “moderate” types stand up and act like men instead of barnyard animals, I will applaud, aid and abet them.
OK, time to put your money where your mouth is. Care to make a donation? Or maybe just start with their list-serv?
ol hoss
I have been naming the evil. The evil is fallen human nature. The case we are discussing in a manifestation of that evil in a family situation where at least some of the guiding principles is equally a manifestation of that same evil called Islam. What I have been trying to get everyone to realize is that “There but for the Grace of God go I”. I am no better than the father who killed his daughter so long as I live in the human nature I have been born with. That is not to excuse the father’s actions. What he did was evil. His belief system is equally evil. For us to run around making veiled threats and vaunting our virtue is evil. What this man did should spur each and everyone of us to do something about controlling that evil in our midst. The only thing is we can not eliminate evil by engaging in evil. Now who was it who said “do not repay evil with evil rather overcome evil with good”?
BTW Elijah is one of my favourites. I draw particular strength from his hiding in a cave waiting for the voice of God.
my gosh….how everyone has fallen prey to the media once again. Let us remind ourselves, that what we have heard from this case is from a bunch of 16 year old teenagers…do you rememeber being 16? do you remember how you felt that everyone was against you, and that a 16 year old teenager tends to dramtacize everything around them? I am not saying these kids are wrong..but I am saying that we need to understand:
yes, this girl was muslim…but that is not the issue. The issue is that of ABUSE…this man was an abusive father that had abused before and did it again. this time, committing an abhorrent act – an act that I am certain, almost everyone muslim would admit was absoloutely, positively wrong…this man is sick and abusive – that’s the bottom line.
whether all of you choose to bring your hatred about islam in this forum…well, that is another story altogether…
Just rememeber that hate will not solve anyhting…
Lori: I know plenty of Muslims who are not a concern to me, and I would welcome them as neighbours and colleagues. I do not “need to get to know them”. I already do. Mostly I know them from work, not so much socially, but some of the latter.
I doubt you’d humour me on this, but in the off-chance that you’re willing to explore how your attitudes towards Muslims might, however unintentionally, come across as offensive to them, try showing your Muslim work colleagues the following statements, and see what their reactions are (you don’t even have to reveal that you’re the one who made them; just say you received a spam email or something):
– “Based on what we see and hear, sadly there seems to be no good reason to want to invite Muslims into our midst. What do Canadians get in return? Lawsuits against Macleans Magazine and CAIR-CAN accusing everyone of hate crimes. No sense of gratitude for being permitted, yes permitted, the privilege (yes, the privilege) of coming to this rich and peaceful land. We see women in Darth Vader outfits with eyes only showing, trailing behind their sullen husbands who never smile when they talk.”
– “I’ll take 1 million Koreans, or Vietnamese, or Poles. Every community has its troubles, but only Muslims seem to make their troubles into the entire society’s troubles. And only Muslims seem to so obsessively separate themselves and their children from from the rest of society so as to ensure that the next generation will not be any better.”
– “I stand by the Darth Vader statement. It is simply alien in this society to walk around with only eyes (if that) showing. That person makes it loud and clear they want no part of this country and this society. The burka really should be banned.”
So, Hana;
How do you feel about a major reformation of Islam?
Specifically to remove the rot that leads to things like the condoned murder of women?
You can’t have it both ways.
Either Islam is perfect as it is, and we must therefore all become Islamic and tolerate this crap, or Islam must be reformed at the foundations. I specifically mean changing the Koran to disallow this primitive tribalism for all who follow Islam, not just the backsliders such as yourself.
Remember, most Germans were not supporters of the National Socialist party. The people of the free world did not specifically hate all Germans. But the Germans didn’t stop the insanity, and the Germany of the time had to be destroyed.
So how do you feel about some preventive reformation, eh?
made mike, nowhere is the Quran is there an allowance of the “condoned murder of women”, as you mentioned.
In fact, in a proper islamic scoiety, women have all of the following rights, and many many more:
In a truly Islamic society women have the following rights in Islam:
1. The right and duty to obtain education.
2. The right to have their own independent property.
3. The right to work to earn money if they need it or want it.
4. Equality of reward for equal deeds.
5. The right to express their opinion and be heard.
6. The right to provisions from the husband for all her needs and more.
7. The right to negotiate marriage terms of her choice.
8. The right to obtain divorce from her husband, even on the grounds that she simply can’t stand him. (pls note that God deeply frowns upon divorce as a solution unless there is hardly any other alternative but it does not mean that men have more right to divorce their wives than women do.)
9. The right to keep all her own money (she is not responsible to maintain any relations).
10. The right to get sexual satisfaction from her husband.
11. custody of their children after divorce.
12. to refuse any marriage that does not please them
and more…
It was not an honor killing and for God’s sake stop calling it an honor killing.
And stop calling it an “Islamic issue”. The Quran says: “Let there be no compulsion in religion” [2:256]. Clear words from a book that Muslims must abide by word for word.
So this is NOT an islamic issue. It was a family issue. The guy lost control of himself and committed a horrible crime.
It was a disagreement between father and daughter. Murders like these happen all the time all over the world. Sometimes they happen over money, sometimes they happen over trust, sometimes they happen over respect, but never does the religion of the murderer get blamed unless it is Islam.
Let’s be clear about one thing: There is not a single word in Sharia or the Qur’an about honor killings. Murder is murder and the Qur’an makes no distinction. This is not a Muslim thing but a father-daughter thing. It’s tragic. And if indeed the father is guilty of this terrible crime, then he must pay for it. But let’s not mistake this for some kind of fulfillment of Sharia, because Sharia does not address it.
@Mad Mike:
I agree that reform is necessary, but that it will only come from within Islam. It does not help matters to be unwilling to differentiate the reformers from the hardliners.
Either Islam is perfect as it is, and we must therefore all become Islamic and tolerate this crap, or Islam must be reformed at the foundations. I specifically mean changing the Koran…
You are presuming that only one “Islam” exists, which I think is false. The practise of any religion is relational–that is, between the holy text and the practitioner. Just as there are multiple forms of Christianity based on multiple interpretations of the Bible (e.g., fundamentalists who read the text literally, progressive reformists who re-interpret and adapt passages to modern contexts, etc.), there are already multiple forms of Islam. The sort of Islam practised by, say, people like Zarah above and the sort practised by the late Ms Parvez’s father are world’s apart. Yet both read the same holy texts.
The Koran is not the problem; certain interpretations, and therefore certain interpreters, are what is in urgent need of reform.
Hana:
Very good.
We agree; except I still think the Koran has to be changed (or maybe “clarified”)so that your misinterpretors can clearly no longer “misinterpret”.
This is critical.
You note:
“It does not help matters to be unwilling to differentiate the reformers from the hardliners”
I agree. But I am clearly differentiating. It seems the majority of Islam is not, or they would be denouncing the hardliners and calling for change themselves. If reform is to come from within Islam, it better come quick, to avoid catastrophe. To further my historical analogy I’ll make a small change to your comment;
“It does not help matters to be unwilling to differentiate the Germans from the Nazis…”
By 1939, it was too late.
“Holy Texts” Batman!!
When you meet the unbelievers, smite their necks, then when you have made wide slaughter among them, tie fast the bonds, then set them free, either by grace or ransom, until the war lays down its burdens. – 47:4
(different translation: ) When you meet the unbelievers in the battlefield, strike off their heads, and when you have laid them low, bind your captives firmly.
O believers, take not Jews and Christians as friends; they are friends of each other. Those of you who make them his friends is one of them. God does not guide an unjust people. – 5:54
Make war on them until idolatry is no more and Allah’s religion reigns supreme – 8:39
It is not for any Prophet to have captives until he has made slaughter in the land. – 8:67
Allah will humble the unbelievers. Allah and His apostle are free from obligations to idol-worshipers. Proclaim a woeful punishment to the unbelievers. – 9:2-3
When the sacred months are over, slay the idolaters wherever you find them. Arrest them, besiege them, and lie in ambush everywhere for them. – 9:5
Believers! Know that idolators are unclean. – 9:28
Fight those who believe neither in God nor the Last Day, nor what has been forbidden by God and his messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, even if they are People of the Book, until they pay the tribute and have been humbled. – 9:29 (another source: ) The unbelievers are impure and their abode is hell. (another source: ) Humiliate the non-Muslims to such an extent that they surrender and pay tribute.
Whether unarmed or well-equipped, march on and fight for the cause of Allah, with your wealth and your persons. – 9:41
O Prophet! Make war on the unbelievers and the hypocrites. Be harsh with them. Their ultimate abode is hell, a hapless journey’s end. – 9:73
Allah has purchased of their faithful lives and worldly goods, and in return has promised them the Garden. They will fight for His cause, kill and be killed. – 9:111
Fight unbelievers who are near to you. 9:123 (different translation:
Believers! Make war on the infidels who dwell around you. Let them find harshness in you. (another source: ) Ye who believe! Murder those of the disbelievers….
Unbelievers are enemies of Allah and they will roast in hell. – 41:14
Those who are slain in the way of Allah – he will never let their deeds be lost. Soon will he guide them and improve their condition, and admit them to the Garden, which he has announced for them. – 47:5
Muslims are harsh against the unbelievers, merciful to one another. – 48:25
“I allow my “baseline of Muslim public behaviour,” as you put it, to be set by my Muslim Canadian friends, and not by the fanatics who act falsely in the name of Islam.”
Oh, do you now? Hmm. Yet their own behaviour is based on the teachings, actions and sayings of their prophet as outlined in the Quran, Sira and Hadith.
Ever read these books?
“act falsely in the name of Islam.”
The answer is no. You’ve never read these books, otherwise you wouldn’t have made the above statement.
Your opinion, based as it is on knowing a couple of Muslims, is invalid and frankly stupidly ignorant.
Believing that a perverted pedophile, mass-murderer and thief is the perfect man and the one Muslims are commanded to emulate is offensive. And should be offensive to every rational human being in the world.
Islamic propagandists frequently bring out the old chestnut about there being “no compulsion in religion.” As naive Sue has done.
Obviously you’re unaware that in the lands conquered by Muslims they offered, as Qur’an and Sunnah tell them to offer, only three possibilities to non-Muslims: death, conversion, or the status of humiliation, degradation, and physical insecurity known as that of the “dhimmi.”
Still believe that they believe in “No compulsion?” Well then, how about this:
Ishaq, p. 547, Upon the conquest of Mecca, Abu Sufyan had been captured and brought to Muhammad.
“…he [Muhammad] said [to Abu Sufyan], ‘Isn’t it time that you should recognize that there is no God but Allah?’ He answered, ‘You are dearer to me than father or mother. How great is your clemency, honour, and kindness! By God, I thought that had there been another God with God he would have continued to help me.’ He said: ‘Woe to you, Abu Sufyan, isn’t it time that you should recognize that I am God’s apostle?’ He answered, ‘As to that I still have some doubt.’
I said to him, ‘Submit and testify that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is the apostle of God before you lose your head,’ so he did so.”
Islamic scholars know that the earlier ‘peaceful’ part of the Quran was abrogated by the later political and military part. Based on that, Sura 2: 256 has been “abrogated” or replaced by the historically later verse, Sura 9:73: “O Prophet! Strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites! Be harsh with them.” And other violent verses.
Oh, and BTW, in Mo’s own words:
“Whoever changes his religion, kill him.” – Mohammad (Hadith al-Bukhaari, 3017).
Tell me Sue and Hanna, is ignorance as blissful as they say?
“because sharia does not address it.” – areeb
Would you like to let us know, oh wise one, how sharia addresses the dhimmi’s, gays, adultresses, thiefs, women in general and kaffir?
Now who was it who said “do not repay evil with evil rather overcome evil with good”?
You discipline your children, do you not?
Would you do less for your enemies?
First of all ol hoss, I have never advocated leaving a Muslim a Muslim. I don’t advocate leaving a secular humanist a secular humanist or an atheist and atheist. Either you are being playfully obtuse or else I am miss communicating with you. All human beings no matter their live experience or world view need Jesus Christ. Full stop. All human beings despite our overly inflated views of ourselves need to humble ourselves enough to seek forgiveness and new birth. In order to extricate people from a hatefull malicious death cult we need to show love in firmness (good) not merely taunting them with hatefull words and shunning (evil). Yes there is a time for shunning, yes there is time for rebuke but before that can take place we need to establish a commonallity with the desired person or group. The actions of the father in this case are similar to incidents that take place all over the world amongst almost every ir/religious world view. They tend to be more common amongst some religions than others but attacking the religion only serves to alienate and separate. I liken it to a Church service, if every week the preacher gives a hellfire and damnation sermon his congregation soon dwindles. If he proclaims {notice the ‘pro’ positve) the Gospel (Good News) people respond positively.
I hope the Canadian Human Rights Commission immediately diverts all of its resources from the Mark Steyn case to this one.
(sound of crickets chirping).
i hope your foreign policy applies to inbred scum like robert pickton as well.
oh yeah – don’t forget michael briere, paul bernardo, and…goodness, why am i wasting my time on you.
isn’t the o’reilly factor starting in a few minutes? don’t wanna’ miss that now, do ya’ buddy?
i hope your foreign policy applies to inbred scum like robert pickton as well.
oh yeah – don’t forget michael briere, paul bernardo, and…goodness, why am i wasting my time on you.
isn’t the o’reilly factor starting in a few minutes? don’t wanna’ miss that now, do ya’ buddy?
irwin daisy, Good job for pointing out those verses. It makes my task of explaining things much easier. Those verses were revealed in the middle of war, when the Muslims were defending themselves against their oppressors. It would help to pick up a history book for the first time in your life for further reference. The Muslims were not as plentiful as they are today. They were a mere 100 people or even less than that intially when they were being oppressed. When it came time for liberation, war broke out, so these verses refer to only those times of war – not presently. They do not apply today. Since you show great citing abilities, I think you can also point out those verses in the Quran that teach tolerance, love and peace. Islam, after all, means “peace”.
does your ideal foreign policy and immigration practices apply exclusively to muslims?
or does it include hindus, christians, jews, and other people of “book” religions?
all it takes is a wiki search to see that violence in the name of religion isn’t exclusive to islam.
I liken it to a Church service, if every week the preacher gives a hellfire and damnation sermon his congregation soon dwindles. If he proclaims {notice the ‘pro’ positve) the Gospel (Good News) people respond positively.
Up to a point. Like Paul said in Hebrews 5, teaching salvation and baptism is the milk. Teaching the meat is what makes one able to discern good and evil. Baby Christians grow up and, if not fed meat, will wither away.
Well ol hoss I have never said that Christians don’t need admonition and in fact it was part of my lesson a few weeks ago. However constantly dwelling on the negative is what turned the positive word ‘protest’ (positive testament) into a negative work meaning to be against something. The reformed Church took the the name Protestant because of its positive connotation. However their constant messaging against established order gave the word a bad name.
Terrence, you had indicated that muslims will never speak out pubclicly about the wrong committed by Aqsa’a father.
Please see below. I am certain that you will come to a different conclusion after reading the following article.
By: Sean Pearce
York Region’s Muslim community is in mourning the death of a Mississauga teen allegedly slain over her refusal to wear the hijab.
Sixteen-year-old Aqsa Parvez died Tuesday, allegedly strangled to death by her father, after refusing to wear the hijab, a head scarf worn by women in some middle-eastern cultures. Newmarket Mosque spokesperson Ansar Ahmed called Ms Parvez’s death a senseless and tragic incident.
“This is the type of tragedy that shakes you to your very core as a person, as a parent and as a Muslim,” he said. “The fact that the wearing of a hijab … appears to have been the catalyst for this violence is what is so disturbing.”
He also said that if the girl’s death was the result of a dispute over the hijab, the killer’s logic is truly flawed.
“Whether or not a woman prays five times a day or whether she chooses to cover her hair is a voluntary act of worship,” Mr. Ahmed said. “It’s ludicrous for this father to have thought that he could compel his teenage daughter to cover her hair. Acts of faith, whatever they may be, have to come from within; they cannot be imposed on anyone. If they are, they are not true acts of faith.”
Mr. Ahmed urged people of all cultures and religions to look out for one another and, if a friend does seem to be in distress, to help him seek help.
Markham resident Ibrahim Hayani echoed many of Mr. Ahmed’s sentiments.
An overwhelming majority of the Muslim population in the region ia shaken and upset by the tragedy apparently committed under the guise of faith, the Ryerson economics and political science professor said.
In fact, Mr. Hayani said, religion likely had little to do with the incident, contrary to reports in other media.
“When it comes to this incident, it had nothing to do with Islam,” he said. “It’s an insult to Islam to say the religion had anything to do with it.”
Instead, Mr. Hayani said that various cultural customs were likely to blame as many despotic nations twist religion as a method of manipulating their citizens and propping up their often totalitarian and patriarchal regimes.
“The Taliban, for example, was altogether repugnant,” he said. “They were a completely un-Islamic regime.”
When people become so indoctrinated with the rules of the regime, they often start to believe what they’re told, even when truth, is false, Mr. Hayani said. Hence, why someone might so fervently believe that the hijab is required to honour God.
“The entire question of the hijab is a fictitious one,” he said. “A close reading of the Qur’an will tell one that the hijab is not required… There is no such thing as Islamic dress.”
There is, however, such a thing as a cultural dress, Mr. Hayani said, and one will find a great diversity in even the types of hijabs that women wear if they were to travel to Saudi Arabia, Egypt or any other culture that uses them.
During the time of the Prophet, Mr. Hayani said, there was no morality police as there is in some supposedly Islamic states today.
“To reduce an entire faith down to a scrap of cloth is nothing short of an insult to Islam,” he said.
Similarly, in Mr. Hayani’s interpretation, what the father has allegedly done to his daughter is considered perhaps the greatest crime in Islam.
“All of this is anti-Islam,” he said. “There are numerous verses that speak to the relationship of the father and his children. They are verses of mercy and compassion..
“This guy killed his daughter because he didn’t approve of how she dressed? How un-Islamic can you get?”
It is truly a terrible crime, Mr. Hayani said, adding he is certain there was more to it than just a father angry about his daughter’s actions.
It’s regrettable, Mr. Hayani said, that too often when something involving a Muslim occurs that religion is cited as one of the factors, suggesting anxiety, depression or other mental illnesses may have also been factors.
“When it comes to any crime committed by Muslims, I don’t know why the religion comes into it,” he said. “When it comes to any other religion, we would never lay the blame for a crime at the foot of the faith itself.”
Let’s all just sit and wait for god, allah, zeus, satan, and the tooth fairy to send some angels (LOL) to deal with all of this. Let’s remember to live by our be all and end all universal life guides; the bible and the koran… LOL!! Forget about the justice system, let religious people/organizations, who believe in fairy tales, deal with and debate the murder of a 16 girl in 2007, in a civilized country. LOL… please. Some of you sound so ridiculous quoting the bible, the koran, etc, referencing god, allah, islam, muslims, christianity, etc. Check in with reality. Why don’t we all quote Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings or Star Wars?
Are any of you capable of living a fulfilling, happy life without god, allah and religion? If Mr. Parvez could, this most likely would not have happened. What do you get in the kingdom of allah for killing your kid because of clothing? 72 virgins? LOL. Can any of you make moral and ethical decisions without checking with god and allah and relying on a super old books filled with bullshit? Major League Bullshit.
To the younger people on this blog, you know, the typical testosterone-driven 22 year-old muslims and christians… aren’t you guys tough and intelligent enough to go about life without your religious, god-worshipping crutch? Yes or no?? Some of you need to told by other, normal humans that there are no gods, no life after death (and I can see it coming: “how do you know this?)… read a real book (biology, astronomy, math, psychology, finances, computers, biographies, etc.).
Hundreds of years ago, say 1400, people had great excuses for there behavior and beliefs in terms of religion…. BECAUSE NONE OF THEM COULD READ… and unexplained events were attributed to gods. Most of us can read. In the middle-east, 75% of males don’t know how to read and are uneducated. Sad stuff. This is why it might be easy to convince some poor sap to smash himself in the side of a crowded bus.
People need to understand why we’re here. Like all other living things, our goals are to AVOID DEATH AT ALL COST (yes, all humans), PROPAGATE THE SPECIES and AVOID EXTINCTION. No god will save us. “You just have to believe” – nutbar. LOL. Believers have all been fooled and continue to be fooled to this day. This has to stop. It’s just us (human species) and nothing else. Why is this so difficult to accept? Surely some of you guys have the fortitude and bravery (lol) to tell allah, jesus, god, zeus, to go screw themselves. LOL… unbelievable. The bottom line, no matter what anyone says here, is that religion is the culprit. Weak. Weak. Weak.
So what are we suppose to do about all this?
(sound of crickets chirping)
“Islam, after all, means “peace”.”
No it doesn’t. It means submission.
See, taqiyya. Or in other words, blatant lies.
‘michael,’ obviously a muslim, writes other blantant lies on his posts above. None of which he can support based on his own religions writings.
This is an excellent example of how they work.
Irwin Dasiy, yes, I am a muslim, a convert, in fact. I converted based on my interactions with a number of great muslims at my workplace. I have never regreeted my decision, but feel bad for people like you that choose to take so many of these verses compeletly out of context. I only wish you could see the big picture, my friend. alas, it seems that you are so filled with hatred, that I don’t know if that would ever be possible.
btw, in response to your meaning of islam comment – Islam is derived from the Arabic root “Salema, which means peace, purity, submission and obedience. so yes, islam does mean peace…
Oh, that old canard.
I don’t take any verse out of context, I leave that up to the Muslim apologists practicing taqiyya, dissimulation and dualism.
Do you understand the Islamic principal of abrogation?
In actual fact, other than the Mecca and Medina periods, the Quran has no context and makes no sense whatsoever without the Sira and Hadith.
Hatred? I don’t feel hatred. Other than towards the ideology of Islam. Understanding, then exposing and criticising Islam for what it is, isn’t hatred. Despite what the Quran (read Mo) might warn against. He only did this to preserve Islam from the light of reason – where it whithers and dies. You know, keep the mushrooms in the dark and feed them shit.
Islam means surrender, and/or submission according to every Islamic and Arabic scholar and source I’ve ever read.
BTW, Allah does not mean God in Arabic. Ilah means God. Allah is the name of the Islamic god. Originally from the old Arabic pantheon of 365 gods. That’s why Muslims are always saying Allah is the greatest. Greatest implies other gods. Mo’s father’s name was Abduallah – after this idol. The Judeo/Christian God is named Yahweh, in case you didn’t know. Completely different. Also Jesus’ name is not Isa in Arabic. Isa is Esau. Yahshua would be Yesuwa in Arabic.
The Quran is full of this kind of nonsense.
Also, did you know that Mohammad and his followers broke every single one of the ten commandments?
Take the blinders off.
Posted by: joe reality at December 13, 2007 12:50 PM
Typical liberal: no room in his personal belief system for anything larger than himself.
Hey, Brainiac, I’d point out the sheer idiocy of your equating Christians with muslims, but it’d likely fall upon deaf ears.
As for your own “religion” – secular atheism, want to tally up the associated death toll from the 20th century?
Nazi Germany: 56,000,000 dead (all countries combined); 6,000,000+ in the camps
Soviet Union: 30,000,000
China: 80,000,000
It appears that those wacky Christians are mere pikers compared to this lot, eh?
Next time, try breaking the quaalude in half before posting.
mhb23re
Like all other living things, our goals are to AVOID DEATH AT ALL COST (yes, all humans)…
Wouldn’t want him watching my back.