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The New York Times has at last taken notice of the prospect of Sharia law coming to Canada, which we have been following here for many months. (Thanks to all who sent this in.) To their credit, they actually explore a bit of the downside.
A group called the Canadian Society of Muslims is testing those boundaries by establishing the Islamic Institute of Civil Justice to apply the legal code called Shariah, based on the Koran, to settle disputes over property, inheritance, marriage and divorce.The prospect of Shariah's operating openly here has already stirred a powerful controversy centering on an uncomfortable issue for any liberal society with an expanding Muslim population that now numbers 600,000: Can a predominately Judeo-Christian society trust Islamic religious rules to protect the rights of all individuals?
The Muslim group is acting under an Ontario provincial law passed in 1991 that gave religious authorities the power to arbitrate civil matters as long as the people seeking arbitration do so voluntarily and are free to appeal those decisions in Canadian courts.
Under the law, Jews and Christians have settled a relatively narrow number of issues without going through the courts. Rabbis have granted religious divorces, decided on matters relating to kosher dietary laws and arbitrated business disputes. Catholic couples have gone to priests to annul marriages, while churches of various dominations have settled disputes related to inappropriate behavior of ministers and monetary disagreements within and between parishes.
But the Islamic Institute wants imams and other arbitrators to decide a broader range of issues. For Syed Mumtaz Ali, 77, an India-born Islamic lawyer and scholar who is the driving intellectual force behind the institute, a Muslim cannot be a Muslim without following Shariah.
"Basically, Muslims live a different kind of life from the Western life, which is secular," he noted in an interview. "Everything we do is governed by religious law." For Mr. Ali, it is perfectly acceptable that a son receive twice the inheritance of a daughter and that a man have the automatic right to divorce while a woman does not.
Muslim arbitrators have not made a single public decision yet, but Canada would presumably never allow the stoning of adulterous women or cutting off the hand of a thief, both allowable forms of punishment in some Muslim societies under an extreme variation of Shariah.
Critics say that Shariah contradicts the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Canada's bill of rights, which guarantees the equality of men and women. Under Canadian family law, for instance, men and women have equal rights to inheritance and property acquired during a marriage.
Canadians voluntarily waive their legal rights all the time, but it is the obligation of the courts to ensure that they have independent legal advice before doing so. Critics of Shariah say Muslim women would be deprived of their rights because, even after emigrating, they frequently live in isolation from the broader society and are beholden to men who routinely tell them what to do and say.
"I don't see how it can be voluntary," said Shahira Hafez, 53, an Egyptian-born anesthesiologist and treasurer of the Toronto chapter of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women, "when all these women from Pakistan, India and Afghanistan are kept isolated in their own communities, do not learn English and only deal with the outer society through their husband and their husband's family."
Posted by Robert at August 4, 2004 8:45 AM
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Canada needs to take their head out of the freezer. Here we are, spending tens of billions of dollars, possible hundreds of billions of dollars (taxpayer dollars) to try to teach these illiterate buffoons the way of freedom, and Canada is pandering to Islamic law.
They ought to wake up. I invite all Canadians to move to the U.S. if necessary. However, it would be much more prudent to kick Islamists out of your country and send them to a sharia driven land. How arrogant of these people.
Oh Canada, I pray for your common sense to kick in. 600,000 bullets would be an economical avenue.
Posted by: DCWatson![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/nav-commenters.gif)
at August 4, 2004 9:37 AM
Actually I'd like Canadian muslim women to have to experience sharia law.
If they don't like sharia law, then they should leave Islam.
Having muslim women experiencing sharia law, would give them a taste of their own medicine.
Posted by: Voltaire at August 4, 2004 2:24 PM
STOP THE ROT NOW!Canadian Law should never have been changed in the first place to suit PC Left or
Religious Bigots. Immigrants MUST obey the laws of their new country or DON'T leave the old one.
Agree this stupidity has permitted terrifying abuses of Muslim women who have no knowledge of English and what is more, are never allowed out except with a controlling Muslim Man. Perfect example of PC Madness gone wrong.
at August 4, 2004 5:51 PM
Canada will be an easy nation to take-over for the Muslim hordes.
Canada is also hostile towards Christians. Mark Harding found out the hard way when he was arrested for a "hate crime" because two years before 9-11 he handed out flyers that warned that a major terrorist attack was coming and that Muslims would commit it.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=29483
He was arrested and sentenced to Islamic "re-education" at the hands of an Islamic cleric who preaches jihad. The cleric told him that if he uttered one word against Mohammed, he would have him sent to prison.
When I called this iman (and other Canadian "clerics" who were involved) to voice my opinion about him, his phony religion and his phony "prophet," the FBI promptly paid me a visit two months later.
p://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=30020
I broke no laws but our new FBI is TOLERANT of all things Islamic. FBI Director Mueller is such a dunce that he regularly allows CAIR to indoctrinate his agents with Islamic "sensitivity" training.
Mueller also spoke before the American Muslim Council a few months ago even though the leader of that group is now looking at 20 years in prison for terrorist-related charges.
Posted by: Morrison Hotel at August 4, 2004 6:07 PM
Sharia in Canada is more than the camel's nose under the tent. Muslims have had a long history of cajoling, crying discrimination, name calling, threatening, and demanding, among other pressures to force a country or civilization to continue along the slippery slope once Islamization has begun. Either Canada reverses this policy NOW, or good-bye Canada.
Posted by: epg at August 4, 2004 7:09 PM
Morrison Hotel, it looks like the enemy is already within.
The quesion is: will we be taken over peacefully or will we go down fighting?
Posted by: Voltaire at August 4, 2004 7:26 PM
You see this is the pattern for the coming excuse for a Jihad against the "infidels", becuase they wont get what they want, they will conclude that the "West" is resisting, and therefore "fighting" Islam...and you will then have another "Bosnia", in fact a dozen or so "Bosnian's" are in the making.
It will be either "Sharia" for all, or War or the demands for their won state.
at August 4, 2004 10:07 PM
I don't see how it could be voluntary either. They should listen to women like Shafira Hafez. She would be the best to know how this would affect women. Not some smiling Muslim man, thinking of the absolute power he could have over his woman, while practising his taqiya to the unsuspecting fools of Canada.
I read an article in Vanity Fair a couple of months back about French Muslim women in France. They have no choice. They are totally under the control of their families, especially their fathers. Many live in fear. No, the correct word would be: terror. Having to hide in underground networks when they want to be free. Maybe the dumdums in Canada should read that article. Canada, so virilently pro inclusiveness and human rights and all that, yet they're blind to the evil they're allowing. How can they subject a segment of their female population to some 3rd class status? They're basically saying that all women in Canada are equal, except for Muslim women.
Posted by: feralee at August 5, 2004 1:47 AM
epg
I'm a Canadian and below is proof for your claim and also why I don't trust the "hate crime"
numbers post by CAIR,nor do I trust their tripe about Islam being Peace and love. CAIR loves to post Jew-Bashing news items and even has a publication on their website that coaches Muslims to know their "Rights" to refuse aiding the RCMP to investigate and arrest terrorist activity from Extremist Islamic groups or Jihad funding in Mosques. CAIR Canada is demanding a Political denouncing of a hate-Crime in Hamilton,Ontario.
The story is on their site www.caircan.ca ,a Mosque was hit with a raw egg twice in three weeks and even during a prayer service.
Now lets not mitigate the racist Islamophobic terrorist attack on a religious building by those infidels on summer break from school. Oh I'm sorry,no arrests or witnesses to this vile defaming of Islam and Muhammed in a country that should protect minorities and protect human rights. CAIR uses the term Racist and Islamophobe without any evidence of the purpetrators,unlike the stance on the Christains in Iraq being slaughter by 5 bombs infront of Churches during evening services.
Lets wait for proof in Iraq so those Peace loving followers of Islam don't become scapegoats for Western bigots and Racist Islamophobes.
Do you see a real irony here,CAIR has been mute on the weekend slaughter of Christian,yet is Irate by an egg hitting their place of worship. But really,Christians have Gods love in their hearts and love for strangers,Islam puts Allah in the bricks and mortar of Mosques and only cares for other Muslims. Hit a Mosque with a egg and you've attacked Allah and Muhammed,try to show brotherly love to Muslims and you're the enemy of Islam, to be killed as a infidel pig and friend of the evil Jews.
And they think WE must be re-educated to purge hate and bigotry from our Godless immoral lives in the West.Cair's mission statement is right there for you to see, they plan to make Canada a Muslim country and then a Islamic State.
The numbers used by Muslim groups are skewed to fit their threats for Government funding as a minority, or Political power as a major Religious group in Canada. About 14 Organizations claim to speak for 1 million Muslim in Canada,one Muslim commented in a newspaper that 5 Million lived in Canada,nobody checked the numbers so the story ran.
I don't trust CAIR anymore for one main reason.When 19 illegal Pakistani students,here on forged passports and enrolled in a defuncted Mail-order College. Cair held protests and screamed racism and profiling after they were picked up,other supporters threatened to go to the U.N. and sue the Canadian Government on human rights violations. These innocent victims of the racist Islamophobic West failed to tell the media about some minor things like FACTS. They were all Muslims and two took flying lessons near a Nuclear Plant and none reported to the Government to renew the student Visa permits.
When the whole truth can out,CAIR and other Muslims groups crawled into their holes and now don't comment on the issue,one Muslim leader still insisted profiling was used to round up the Pakistani students which was a violation of their Rights to be asumed innocent before proven guilty.
A petiton is on www.muslimcanadiancongress.org
to demand the RCMP apologize for this injustice and racist detention based on color and nationality. The M.C.C. founder is from Pakistan
and argues the RCMP didn't have grounds to detain them,he mislead people to infer these were Citizens and posters in my area state "it's not a crime to be a Pakistani in Canada" .
To date,16 got the boot and three have tax-paid
lawyers claiming refugee status for them.Also a Syrian that fled to Canada from this murderous regime,returned to the middle east on vacation
which included Syria,he returned to Canada via New York and was detained by Immigration and the FBI. Still having a Syrian Citizenship the U.S. deported him to his Country of origin because of only 15 years in Canada and traveling without his wife and child that were still in Jordan on vacation. He landed in Jordan and claimed he was driven to Syria blindfolded and jailed for over a year and tortured daily.
He's suing the Canadian Government for 400 Million dollars and Syria for 30 million dollars,the RCMP is on trial for alledgely helping the FBI do a history check that lead to the torture in Syria. The Syrian Canadian's Lawyer has no evidence to prove torture but assumes guilt and wants the Government to show they aren't guilty. Either way the inquiry will cost about 20 million to the taxpayers,lawyers drag out testimony and questioning,also they ask the same questions several ways to run up the bill to the taxpayers.
Nobody has asked why he kept his Syrian Citizenship and vacationed there since fleeing here as a refugee from pursecution and traveling without his wife. They were Muslims and his wife ran for a Federal party in the June election,this while her husband was suing Canadians for 400 Million dollars for alledged torture in Syria. Yes Canada is ripe for a takeover by Islam since the plan is to bankrupt the Country and create poverty to justify instating Sharia law to have peace and Justice for the poor.
below is the CAIR website advice to demand the police to report a hate crime
**************************************************
Report the crime to your local police station immediately. Ask that the incident be treated as a hate crime. Follow up with investigators.
Inform CAIR-CAN even if you believe it is a “small” incident.
Document the incident. Write down exactly what was said and/or done by the offender. Save evidence. Take photographs.
Act quickly. Each incident must be dealt with when it happens, not when convenient.
Decide on the appropriate action to be taken.
Consider issuing a statement from community leaders,holding a news conference,organizing a protest,meeting with officials,or starting a letter writing campaign.
Mobilize community support. Contact CAIR-CAN and a local mosque or organization, Stay on top of the situation.
Announce results. When the incident is resolved, make an announcement to the same people and organizations originally contacted.
at August 5, 2004 4:00 AM
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