Canada: Focus put on women's issues at Islamic open house in Port Dover

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The more extreme burka is common in Islamic societies where the rule of law is weak or non-existent. He cited as examples Afghanistan and Somalia.

PHOTO: MONTE SONNENBERG / SIMCOE REFORMER

Times of Ahmad | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: Simcoe Reformer
By Monte Sonnenberg | April 5, 2016

Women in Islamic societies are expected to dress modestly lest they "provoke a man."

"A woman needs to cover her body, which is attractive to man, for her safety," Farid Wasim of Brampton, a regional representative of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community in Ontario, said at an Islamic open house in Port Dover this weekend.

"She might be attractive to others and may be attacked. She is to be covered so she can be more respected and protected."

Wasim's remarks came during a wide-ranging discussion of Islam Saturday at the Port Dover branch of the Norfolk Public Library.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim community has held annual open houses in Norfolk in recent years. Their goal is to demystify Islam while putting some distance between violent Islamic extremists and moderate Muslims who wish to live in peace with their neighbours.

Saturday's meet-and-greet was one of 10 sponsored by the Ahmadiyya community across Canada on the weekend. A news release regarding the initiative emphasized women's issues and the concerns the Ahmadiyya community has about the treatment of Muslim women in Canada in light of recent controversies regarding the hijab, niqab, burka and other items of clothing designed to obscure a woman's features.

Wasim said the hijab - the traditional head covering - and the niqab - the head covering that masks a woman's face - are common in Islamic societies as a means of maintaining a discrete distance between the sexes. The coverings, Wasim said, contribute to women's safety by ensuring the passions of Islamic men are not inflamed.

Wasim said the more extreme burka is common in Islamic societies where the rule of law is weak or non-existent. He cited as examples Afghanistan and Somalia.

The burka is a head-to-toe shroud - often black in colour -- which completely obscures a woman's features. The section of the burka covering the face is punctuated with small holes so a woman can see where she is going.

The burka is necessary in some parts of the world, Wasim says, because men will kidnap Muslim women and force them into relationships where there is no reliable law enforcement. The burka guards against this because would-be kidnappers do not know if they are committing a crime against someone within their own clan or a stranger outside the extended family.

Viqas Malik, a colleague of Wasim's, finds it interesting that many in the Christian west have trouble with Muslim women maintaining their traditional dress once they immigrate. Malik said most every depiction of the Virgin Mary in existence shows the mother of Jesus in a modest, hijab-type outfit.

There are nearly 50,000 Ahmadiyya Muslims in Canada. The sect was founded in Punjab, British India, in the late 1800s. Many of its members have emigrated to the west due to persecution at home.

Ahmadiyya Muslims believe humanity's modern-day Messiah came and went in the form of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, a Punjabi holy man who lived from 1835 to 1908.

msonnenberg@postmedia.com



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