Is Canada in tatters?
Is the Canadian government pushing Motion 103 to accommodate the following Islamic views? Will Canada end in tatters?
The fight for Islamic prayers in public schools is dividing Canadians. Much ado about something is taking place in Peel region; one of Canada’s largest and fastest growing multi-ethnic areas.
A diverse group of Canadian citizens has been treated with disdain for sharing their concerns about the practice of Jummah, a Muslim congregational prayer held each Friday, around midday, that is taking place in Peel Public secular schools
A prayer that condones hate against Christians and Jews.
I share these prayers with you later in the article.
Once again “Progressive” Canadians are calling out other Canadians for not being appropriately accommodating, tolerant, and inclusive of Islam as they, the self-appointed righteous ones.
March 9, 2017, Brampton Mayor Linda Jeffrey denounced some of the “hateful speech” that has been shared. “I am troubled by the misinformation, fear mongering and outright falsehoods being spread by some…Peel is one of the most diverse regions in Canada. We not only cherish diversity, we celebrate it.”
Mayor Jeffrey has also noted “The Ontario Human Rights Code mandates religious accommodation up to the point of undue hardship . . . Muslim students require a time to pray that may happen during a school day, and we must respect that — as we do any other religious requirement.”
And she added “I strongly condemn any form of discrimination, any form of racism, and any form of hate. There is no place for it here, or anywhere else in Canada.” Except, apparently, a prayer that condones hate against Christians and Jews, or the expression of opinions expressed by other ethnic groups, like the Hindu-then there is place for discrimination and racism.
According to the Toronto Star, a week prior to the March meeting “self-described ‘concerned parents’ launched an online petition demanding that the board ‘immediately discontinue . . . religious clubs and religious congregations of any religion.’
“Gayathri Iyer, spokesperson for the petition’s organizers and the mother of two Peel students, said the petition was specifically inspired by concerns about Jummah.”
Concern has also been expressed about Muslim students writing their own sermons rather than taking the sermons from Imams. Using Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedom they said that “the decision to limit their sermons violated their right to religious freedom.”
Trustee Nokha Dakroub noted “They were concerned that it was restricting their religious freedoms and their freedom of speech. They felt stigmatized by the policy.”
Also according to the Toronto Star “Youtube videos taken at a town hall-style school board meeting in January show men named Eric Brazau and Ron Banerjee accusing Islam of promoting violent acts. A man named Ron Banerjee runs Canadian Hindu Advocacy, a group previously described by the Star as “a militantly anti-Muslim organization.”
According to Education director Tony Pontes that night “was very disappointing because what we saw was intolerance and hate.” His report notes that students will be able to, once again, write their own sermons without approval.
The Muslim students also wanted the right to pray not only on Fridays, but every day of the week, if it is convenient for them.
Student Shahmir Durrani explained “’The board should not be policing religion’ and that the policy is unjust because it specifically targets Islam.”
Well, he’s right. The board is targeting Islam because only Islam has had the audacity to demand that their religion, their ideology, which is diametrically opposed to the ideology of democracy as taught and practiced in Canada, be allowed in the public sphere while Christianity which was part of the secular curriculum has been removed.
According to Carlton University student Maged Arab, 23, without a permanent prayer room, Muslims have to either find a quiet place at school or else cram in all five of their daily prayers into their evenings. “Thankfully, if there’s no prayer room, you’re excused and you can catch up on all the prayers when you get home from school,” he said.
But the board should be targeting Islam because of the prayer allowed in the schools-a prayer that is said 17 times a day by Muslims. A prayer that is as important to Muslims as the Lord’s Prayer is to Christians.
“On Fridays, the noon congregational prayer (Jummah) substitutes for the regular noon prayer, and it includes the Khutba, or the Friday sermon, by the imam (religious leader) who gives the congregants guidance in Islamic teachings. The purpose of the prayer is to demonstrate a total submission to Allah and a commitment to follow his path unconditionally.
This mandatory prayer attacks all Christians and Jews.
“The path of those you bestowed favours upon, not those who have incurred [Your] wrath and those who have deviated.” from urah (chapter) al-Fatihah
We can thank Imam Omar Subedar of the Peel District School Board Faith Leaders Network for the explanation of this prayer said in his School Board District.
I know we live in a time of tweets, but take the time to read the explanation of the prayer by this Canadian Imam. We cannot have civil discussions if we do not learn about others.
THE PRAYER REFERRING TO JEWS
Peace and the mercy and blessings of Allah be upon you, brothers and sisters it‘s Imam Omar Subedar here once again here once again in Tafsir [commentary of the Quran] in Five. Today inshallah we’re going to be covering the concluding verses of Surat al-Fatihah [the first chapter of the Quran al-Fatiha], particularly the seventh verse, in which Allah, glorified and exalted be He, tells us to ask him to save us from putting us on the path that was followed by a particular people in the past that unfortunately did not succeed in treading this path and that was simply because of their own actions. What we’re talking about here is – if you notice in the first two verses we’re asking Allah (swt) to guide us to the straight path, and then that path has been identified as a path that has been treaded by the prophet, peace and blessings be upon him (pbuh), the people who are firm in their faith, the people who have given their lives for Allah, the shouhada [Arabic for martyrs] particularly and that the people who have committed to a path and a lifestyle of piety a-Saliheen [Arabic for pious]. Allah (swt) then brings to our attention that – do not tread the path of those people who were put on this particular road, this highway to heaven, but then they had exited this particular path, because of their own actions. The first category Allah (swt) identifies is the ‘those who have incurred your wrath’ and the second category or the second group of people he identifies is ‘those who have deviated’. First I’m going to recite the verse.
I seek refuge in Allah from Satan the accursed. In the name of Allah the Beneficent the Merciful. Not the path of those who have incurred Your anger or the path of those who have deviated, who have fallen astray.
Now, who are these people? Whom are these categories Allah (swt) is referring to? The first group, the prophet (pbuh) has identified as the JEWS (اليهود), and the second group ‘those who have deviated’, the prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, has identified them as the Christians (النصارى).
This is clear in the hadith [collections of narrations attributed to Mohammad] and the question we want to ask ourselves is: What did the first group do to yield Allah’s (swt) anger and what did the second group do to deviate from the straight path? Well there’s something Allah (swt) explains in other verses. When it comes to the first group ‘those who have incurred your wrath’ the prophet (pbuh) has identified as the JEWS Allah (swt) tells us in Surah Aal Imran [Chapter The Family of Imran in the Quran], chapter 3, verse 112, four different things this community had done due to which Allah (swt) became angry with them.
The first thing is that they were selective in their beliefs. They would believe in whatever they wanted to believe in and if something was not suitable to them they would just discard it. ‘We believe in some and disbelieve in others‘. So what Allah says: These people would now disbelieve in the verses of Allah (swt). This is the first thing that had angered a Allah. The second thing is you have a community from that particular nation, known as the rabbinical community, and since there were the illuminated and the enlightened ones, people obviously would look to them for guidance and they would have the masses under their hands. So whenever there was a threat to this power by new leaders coming in town particularly the prophets , peace and prayers be upon them, the first course of action these people would resort to is eliminate that threat, and that would be by unfortunately killing the prophets, peace and prayers be upon them. Allah identifies that in this verse by saying: They would kill the prophets, peace and prayers be upon them, unjustly.
Allah (swt) then tells us about their regular actions and He says: They would also disobey and it would not but just be occasionally. It would be frequently. It would be habitually. They would habitually transgress the laws of Allah (swt). So now since this is the part of their system to her habitually disobey Allah (swt) be selective in their beliefs and if anyone is being sent for their guidance they would just eliminate that individual, this ultimately had now directed Allah’s (swt) anger to this community for the rest of eternity basically.
So Allah (swt) says: Those who have incurred Your anger. Yes, Allah (swt) clarified that they’re not all the same in the subsequent verse of the Chapter of The Family of Imran, Chapter 3, verse number 113, Allah says: They’re not all the same. So we can’t paint everyone of with the same brush, but the thing is that this was something that was dominant in that community due to which Allah’s anger had descended on them. So Allah (swt) is telling us that after you’ve been put on the path be steadfast on it and do not do things that would now throw you off that path. And that’s why we ask Allah’s (swt) protection from such outcomes. We ask Allah (swt) that He keeps us steadfast on the path and make us reach our goal of paradise. May Allah reward you [with] goodness. Until next time Peace and the mercy of Allah be upon you.
THE PRAYER REFERRING TO CHRISTIANS
Peace and the mercy and blessings of Allah be upon you, brothers and sisters, Imam Omar Subedar is here once again here once again in Tafsir [commentary of the Quran] in Five. Today, Allah Willing, we’re going to be looking at the final portion of the final verse of Surah [Chapter] al-Fatiha, specifically ‘those who have deviated’. This is a group of people, Allah (swt) has instructed us to ask him to steer us clear from following the footsteps of, and we want to understand who these people are. Our beloved prophet (pbuh) has identify them as in the Christians (نصارى), which we pointed out in the previous video, and we want to understand what these people did due to which Allah (swt) has described them as such.
For this Allah (swt) tells us in Surah al-Nisa [chapter The Women in the Quran], chapter 4, verse 171 where he’s addressing this community with the words: يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ لاَ تَغْلُواْ فِي دِينِكُمْ وَلاَ تَقُولُواْ عَلَى اللّهِ إِلاَّ الْحَقِّ [O People of the Scripture, do not commit excess in your religion or say about Allah except the truth]. Allah (swt) is telling them: Do not exaggerate things in the religion. Do not say things which are untrue out of extreme love or out of extreme admiration and only speak the truth about Allah. وَلاَ تَقُولُواْ عَلَى اللّهِ إِلاَّ الْحَقِّ [do not say about Allah except the truth]. If you want to say anything about Allah, make sure it’s accurate.
Now what was going on in this particular community when it comes to the CHRISTIANS? They were ascribing divinity to other entities. They were extending divinity which is exclusive for Allah (swt) to the creation, and particularly when it comes to the prophet Jesus (عيسى), peace be upon him, you had one of three notions that we developed that either Jesus (pbuh) is God in person or Jesus (pbuh) is part of a trinity or Jesus (pbuh) is the begotten son of God. And in all cases divinity is being a scribe to Jesus (pbuh) and this is something Allah (swt) is disapproving of, but since they were committed to this, and at the same time they were steadfast on these beliefs, this belief itself is what had steered them clear from ‘the straight path’, made them exit the ‘the straight path’ due to which Allah (swt) categorized them as ‘those who have deviated’.
Allah (swt) tells them that: don’t say things which are inaccurate, don’t make things up. And he also clarifies after that: إِنَّمَا الْمَسِيحُ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ رَسُولُ اللّهِ وَكَلِمَتُهُ [The Messiah ‘Iesa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary), was (no more than) a Messenger of Allah and His Word]. Issa (pbuh) if you want to know his position, he is simply as he is saying الْمَسِيحُ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ رَسُولُ اللّهِ [The Messiah ‘Iesa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary), was (no more than) a Messenger of Allah], he is simply Allah’s messenger and the word of Allah. And how is he the word of Allah? He is created by the word of Allah, which was casted in his mother Maryam (pbuh) and he is created as Allah says in another verse: إِنَّ مَثَلَ عِيسَىٰ عِندَ اللَّهِ كَمَثَلِ آدَمَ ۖ خَلَقَهُ مِن تُرَابٍ ثُمَّ قَالَ لَهُ كُن فَيَكُونُ [Indeed, the example of Jesus to Allah is like that of Adam. He created Him from dust; then He said to him, “Be,” and he was].
Jesus’ (pbuh) example is like that of Adam (pbuh) who Allah had created from dirt, but what’s a commonality between these two? Allah said to them be and they were. And that’s why Jesus (pbuh) is known as the word of Allah. So if there’s anything we want to say about anyone it should be accurate, and if we’re not going to say accurate things that it’s going to now put us on the path of deviation, something that we do not want to obviously experience in any shape or form. So hence this brings this particular Surah [chapter] which we’ve covered in quite a few videos to an end. We ask Allah (swt) that the these videos serve as a means for us to develop a stronger connection with Him, a greater appreciation for Him, and at the same time give us the ability to continuously connect with His word, avail from it and thus acquire paradise through it. Until next time may Allah reward you [with] goodness and Peace and the mercy of Allah be upon you.
Why are these prayers allowed in our Public schools? And just as importantly, why are these prayers allowed in houses of worship in diverse, tolerant, inclusive, accommodating Canada?
