Imam Alnadvi offers a sly, sleazy justification for a murder. “Muslim clerics denounce girl’s death, but reiterate hijab’s importance,” by Craig Offman for National Post (thanks to Morgaan Sinclair):
MISSISSAUGA, Ont. – Muslim leaders on Thursday denounced as un-Islamic the slaying of a Toronto-area teenager who had clashed with her family, but said some parents would view themselves as having failed in their duty if their daughter chose not to wear the hijab.
The comments came at a tense news conference at the Islamic Society of North America Canada headquarters in Mississauga, held three days after the alleged strangling death of 16-year-old Aqsa Parvez. Her father, Mohammad Parvez, is accused of killing her and friends say the family had argued over the girl’s refusal to wear the hijab, or traditional Muslim head-scarf.
While stressing the sanctity of human life, denouncing the crime and describing it as a case of domestic abuse, religious leaders insisted on the hijab’s importance to parents – even if a daughter rejects it.
“They were believing that part of their culture was hijab, and it is their duty to convince their kids that this is part of their culture,” said Mohammad Alnadvi, who sits on the Canadian Council of Imams. “So if the daughter makes the decision, then they have failed.”
Still, Imam Alnadvi said that judging from the information he received, hijab was only one of the issues.
“This girl she refused to stay at home,” he said. “There were feelings that she is going in some wrong direction … going with some other boy or some other thing.”
After he made those comments, two females in hijabs interrupted him and started to disagree, before abruptly leaving the gym where the conference was held.
Why didn’t they stick around and challenge him?
In an interview afterward, the women – a mother and daughter – said they had taken Aqsa into their home on various occasions, but would not offer any more information.
The convener of the event, Sheikh Alaa Elsayed, said that one of the keys to getting daughters to wear the hijab is teaching them about religion at a young age. The other, he said, is “a proper spouse.”
In his introductory remarks filled with religious references, Arabic flourishes and abundant blessings, Elsayed stressed that parents should teach the benefits of the religious clothing. “We have to be successful teachers,” he said, adding later in the dialogue that parents should encourage daughters “to do the right thing.”
Still, he said, words and deeds were more important than clothing.
Citing the Koran, Elsayed said it is forbidden to hit anyone, adding that taking away a human life is an act against all humanity. “No religion condones such an act,” he said.
He also spoke out against moving away from faith.
“We cannot let culture supercede religion,” he said. “If we stay away from the teachings of Islam, we will pay for it.”
Yes, Aqsa paid for it, all right.