Khalid Mosque threatens the Toronto Star
[ Follow-Ups ]
[ Post Followup ]
[ Canadian Coalition for Democracies Public Message Forum ]
Posted by David Murrell on 09:33:42 2008/11/16
Someone posted on this CCD site, below this posting, an article from the Toronto Star. Its main point was that six Islamist women, from the Somalia-based Khalid Bin Al-Walid mosque in Toronto, were undertaking a human rights complaint against a shipping company (whose name escapes me), given that the shipping company forbade facial coverings based on safety considerations.
The Toronto Star article, written by John Goddard and posted on this site, is a good piece of journalism. It mentions that the six Somali Muslim women were from the Khalid mosque. The article explains that the mosque is ultraconservative, and forbids women from working; that female circumsision is permissable; that a family can force women family members to wear the full niquab;, that Jews are inferior; etc.
After the Star writer interviewed the mosque's leadership, the mosque posted the following letter on its web site:
http://www.khalidmosque.com/en/
The letter threatens legal action, if the Star article is not "fair and balanced". The letter claims that the mosque is not anti-Semitic, yet the Star article indicates that anti-Semitic postings abound on the site. Here is the letter written out in full:
Response to Toronto Star's Article
A response letter was sent to John Goddard on Saturday November 8, 2008 before he published the article, and he failed to mention anywhere in the article that he has receivd a response from Khalid Mosque in regards to his concerns about the material in Khalid Mosque Website. Here is the letter that was sent to him:
November 8, 2008
Dear Mr. Goddard:
We would first like to take this opportunity to thank you for seeking our comments concerning certain material that is contained on our web site. We have maintained our web site to reach out to Muslims and non Muslims alike to provide to them the authentic teachings of Islam. We do not seek to offend or harm anyone with what is written on our web site. There are many different religions in this world and there are naturally many disagreements between scholars of each religion. This is a reality we all have to accept.
Different scholars of Islam may have differing opinions on the same subject. If the issue is clearly understood from the Quran and the Prophet Mohamed, the opinion of a scholar is not necessary. When we post a question and answer from a known Islamic Scholar on our web site, this does not mean that we agree or disagree with the views of that scholar on the particular issue being discussed. We try our best to enrich Islamic knowledge for anyone who visits our web site and show to them the differing views of Islamic scholars on a particular subject. We make it clear to all readers of our web site that unless the answers are provided by the Khalid mosque, the answers do not necessarily reflect the views of Khalidmosque.org.
It is our understanding that your article will address issues surrounding a Human Rights Commission hearing that is ongoing. We think it is very important that our position is clear to you and your readers: The Board of the Khalid Bib Al-Walid Mosque maintains the view that women are an extremely important part of the workplace in Canadian society and that they have made and will continue to make many meaningful contributions to Canada's economy and the well-being of their communities and families. We of course wish that all women enjoy as much success in life as possible.
We advise both our brothers and sisters in Islam and whoever else is willing to pay heed, that we all should try and adhere to the moral and ethical scripturally sourced authentic Islamic values regarding the way we dress for work and in our interaction with people of the opposite sex. We pray that our Lord gives us the resolve, the strength and the support required to freely practice what our Lord wishes of us.
We are law abiding citizens of this great country and we practice our religion in a manner that is entirely consistent with the rights afforded to us by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. We are against all forms of violence and we strongly oppose radicalism and extremism. Moderation, peaceful coexistence and mutual respect between societies are integral parts of our Islamic teachings.
We do not accept any form of intimidation. While some media outlets seek to lump all brothers and sisters of Islam together and suggest to their readers that all people of Islam are radicals and terrorists, this will never have the effect of forcing us to abandon our religion and its important teachings.
We would also like to respond directly to your questions concerning Judaism. We believe in the Torah as one of the books that Allah revealed from the above Seven Heavens. We believe in the prophets of Allah: Abraham, Ismail, Jacob, Moses, Jesus, and Mohamed. We believe that the Quran is the final message to the whole of mankind and Mohamed is the final Messenger and servant of Allah who was sent to the whole of mankind.
We are very concerned by the tenor of your questions that you may unintentionally harm the image of Somali Muslims in Canada with the words you write. As the Board of the Khalid Bin Al-Walid mosque, we are preparing ourselves for the inevitable backlash of hatred and threats that will come with the suggestion that we support radical Islam and that we are therefore terrorists. While we have become accustom to this form of racism, we never get used to it and it is very harmful to our people. We will reserve judgment on your article until after it is published and we are hopeful that it is accurate, fair and balanced. If it is not, we will seek the appropriate advice from our legal counsel.
Thank you, may Allah guide you to right path.
Khalid Bin Al-Walid Mosque
Management and the Board of Directors
Follow Ups:
Post a Followup
[ Follow Ups ]
[ Post Followup ]
[ Canadian Coalition for Democracies Public Message Forum ]