Muslim Setback in Canada

Now, Religion in the News, a report and comment on religious trends and events being covered by the media. This week’s item is from United News of India, May 30, 2005, with the headline, “Women Hail the Recent Victory Over Sharia in Canada. 

Muslim women organizations in Canada have welcomed the Quebec legislature’s decision to disallow Muslim tribunals for family matters in the province, and that the laws of the state will apply to all its residents regardless of religion, ethnicity, or culture. Describing the motion passed unanimously by the Quebec legislature as a courageous act, the Canadian Council of Muslim Women said, ‘Though it may be criticized by some, its message is strong that religious women will not be isolated and placed under any other form of law. Quebec has clearly understood that different laws for different citizens leads to discrimination and have nothing to do with multiculturalism or charter rights,’ said Alia Hogman, Executive Director of the Council. However, the council regretted that the motion did not include a statement that no religious laws shall be used in the province. It said this move toward separate laws according to religion is being advocated by other religious groups and is not restricted to Muslims only. ‘We hope that Ontario will follow the same reasoning and demonstrate the courage of state unequivocally that all Ontario families must be treated equally under the laws of the land,’ Hogman said, referring to Women Muslim Organization’s struggle against Ontario’s move to bring the province under Sharia.”

Tom: Dave, for our listeners who are not familiar with Sharia, it’s traditional Islamic law based on the Qur’an, the Hadith, but also, like Roman Catholicism and its tradition, it’s based on ideas and thoughts that Islamic communities have had. So it’s basically men’s interpretation of what they believe is Allah’s law, and that’s another term for Sharia. But the problem is that’s it’s 7th century, and it covers dress codes, it covers circumcision - not only for males, but for females, which is a large problem. It has to do with human rights. It’s contrary in many places to the civil rights of the land, which I think is why Canada finally came around to rejecting this - and not all of Canada, by the way. It’s good news, I think, but it’s also limited.

Dave: Well, it does raise some basic questions. Why is it that Muslim women don’t want to be under Islamic law? Is there something wrong with Islamic law? If there is something wrong with Islamic law, maybe there is something more basically wrong with all of Islam. Maybe they ought to rethink that whole thing, because Islamic law comes from the Qur’an. It comes from - you mentioned the Hadith, and the Hadith records for us the teachings of Muhammad, and when Muhammad said it, you cannot disagree. And Muhammad - we’ve quoted him often as far as Jews are concerned - Muhammad said, “The last day will not come until the Muslims confront the Jews and the Muslims destroy them. Even the rocks and the trees, Allah will give them a voice in that day to cry out, ‘Muslim, there is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him.’” 

Now, if it’s okay to kill all Jews, and that comes from Sharia Islamic law, why would something be wrong with Islamic law - Sharia - for women? They better rethink this whole thing, because it is a horrible law for women, and women don’t have any rights. And yet you see women all made up with makeup and coifed hair, and wearing high heels and a dress and so forth on Western television saying, “Oh, it’s so wonderful! Muslims are so kind to women, and Muslim women have all the rights anywhere else.” It’s a lie! It’s not true! And of course, these women are saying, “Hey, wait a minute, that’s not true. We don’t want to be under this.”

Tom: Dave, it’s also interesting that sometimes biblical Christianity is chided for having a bias against women, which isn’t true. But there’s no doubt in Islam that men - I mean, they can make up the laws. There’s no problem with a husband, according to the Qur’an, beating his wife over certain issues, over certain so-called disobediences, and so on. But this moves into the area of abuse.

Dave: Well, a Muslim is allowed to have four wives at one time and as many concubines as he wishes. He can divorce any one of the four, or all of the four, by simply saying “I divorce you” three times. They’re gone. 

I don’t remember whether we had it in The Berean Call or whether it’s in my latest book, but here’s a man, a wealthy man, paid 10 million dollars for his latest wedding in Saudi Arabia. He got a 14-year old girl, I think, and he’s in his 50s, but he thought that was the ideal age. And by the time he’s 60, I think he wants to have married a wife for every year. I don’t remember how many he’s had, but a large number of wives already. But he never has more than four at once. This is perfectly acceptable in Saudi Arabia, and he has control over these women. And you know that in Sharia, a man’s testimony is worth twice a woman’s testimony. A very difficult time. A woman can’t leave her home in Saudi Arabia unless she is accompanied by a male relative, and only with her husband’s permission. She can’t drive a car, etc., etc. So you can understand why these Muslim women who have a little taste of freedom in the West, they’re not happy with this. 

And, Tom, the Universal Declaration on Human Rights by the United Nations, signed by Muslim countries, offers rights that they do not give their citizens! It makes me a little bit angry. How can you allow members of the United Nations to flaunt the laws of the United Nations and even to sign - like Article 18 says, “We guarantee freedom of religion, freedom of press, freedom of this and that, and so forth.” And Saudi Arabia signed it, and they don’t give any of these freedoms! We have such hypocrisy. They call it “politically correct.” I think there ought to be an uprising on the part of the ordinary citizen and say, “Look, you guys, you claim to be running the world, United Nations, and you’re not even consistent.” Of course, Israel is always condemned for the lack of human rights. Not these countries. And, Tom, at least somehow these Muslims women rose up in Canada and said, “We don’t want that.”