[NPM] and PMN--Let Itrath Speak! Send your WakeUp Call!

[D***@aol.com]

Irath,

I really liked this article by Ahmed--straight to the point. Stay strong, my
sister, you have my prayers and support.

Daayiee

Great work together.

In a message dated 6/15/2004 8:09:08 PM Eastern Daylight Time, ***@shaw.ca
writes:
Salaam Ahmed,

oyy vey. this is a bit intimidating. but in a good way, i think. :-)

just wanted to say that there are more muslim candidates running. there are
3 women that i know of running for the ndp, me, monia and fauzia. i think
there are a bunch more men running for the ndp as well. not sure where you
can find the actual count, aside from perhaps the ndp federal office or the
elections canada people at www.elections.ca .

itrath

Date: Tue, 15 Jun 2004 19:23:56 -0400
Subject: [NPM] Let Itrath Speak! Send your WakeUp Call!
Assalamu Alaykum Dear Friends,
You can participate in our WakeUp Call to mosque leaders in Vancouver urging
http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000882.php
Peace,
Ahmed
-------------
Another Woman Silenced: Vancouver Imam Attacks Muslim Candidate for Canadian
Parliament
By Ahmed Nassef
When Itrath Syed entered her local mosque in Vancouver last Friday, she
expected to get a chance to let her fellow congregants know about her
campaign for the Canadian parliament representing the Delta-Richmond East
Riding south of Vancouver on behalf of the New Democratic Party (NDP).
After all, not only is Syed one of only two Muslim candidates on the ballot
in all of Canada and the sole Muslim candidate in her province, but she and
her family have been long-time supporters and members in the British
Columbia Muslim Association (BCMA), the main mosque in Vancouver.
Syed is a graduate student in Women’s Studies at the University of British
Columbia and a veteran peace and justice, civil rights and anti-violence
activist, having worked for 7 years at a battered women and children shelter
and leading her province’s anti-war efforts.
However, instead of an opportunity to address the other Muslims there, Syed
sat through a scorching sermon that charged her with “working against the
community.”
The sermon, delivered by Imam Zijad Delic, focused on the issue of same-sex
marriage. Although never mentioning her by name, Syed says that Delic
repeatedly derided “Muslims who are running for politics,” a clear

reference

to her.
Those Muslims who support a “fahisha” (i.e. grave sin), Delic reportedly
continued, will never get the community’s support.
On the verge of tears, Syed stood in the mosque parking lot with a friend
after the prayers feeling humiliated and betrayed.
According to Syed, Daud Ismail, the president of the BCMA, which operates
the mosque, had promised her a chance to address community members two weeks
prior, but that was subsequently postponed until this past Friday, June 11.
Meanwhile, she was never warned that she would be the focus of a religious
sermon opposing her while not being given a chance to respond afterwards.
Although Ismail told me that he would not comment on the matter, Delic was
unapologetic. While denying that he targeted Syed in his sermon, Delic
repeatedly attacked her during a telephone interview.
“My problem is not with NDP. My problem is with her
 support for [same-sex
marriage],” he told me.
In an angry, almost vengeful tone, Delic at once seemed to challenge Syed’s
faith—at one point, he went on about how she should not be called a “Muslim

”

candidate—while at the same time asserting that, since Syed wears the
head-covering, she should be bound by stricter standards than non-Muslim
candidates.
Apparently in Delic’s world, the choice to don the head covering, or hijab,
gives Muslim women the added burden, one not borne by men of course, of
having to conform to Delic’s vision of true Islam.
For Delic, the gay marriage issue is so important that it justifies the
public humiliation of a highly respected human rights activist in the
Greater Vancouver community. When asked if he would give Syed a chance for a
rebuttal, he insisted that she should not be given a chance to address the
mosque attendees unless she first comes out with a statement retracting her
support of her party’s positions on same-sex union. Delic also insisted that
he has nothing to apologize for.
Many Canadian Muslims, however, don’t share Delic’s views.
“The community has every reason to be proud of Itrath Syed,” says Tarek
Fatah, co-founder of the Muslim Canadian Congress. “Her crime is that she
believes in universal human rights for all minorities, including gays and
lesbians. For this principled stand, this young observant Muslim woman is
paying the price.”
Monia Mazigh, the other Muslim running for office with the NDP in Ottawa, is
disturbed that some are making one’s position on same-sex marriage a litmus
test for a vote. Mazigh became something of a media star throughout the
country because of her courageous battle on behalf of her husband, Maher
Arar, a Canadian citizen who was detained by US authorities then handed over
to Syria, where he spent 374 days in a Syrian jail before finally being
released.
“It is very dangerous to endorse or oppose a candidate just because he
supports or opposes same sex marriage,” Mazigh said. “We should not mix
religion and politics.”
But the blurred line between religion and politics is at the core of the
issue for Imam Delic. When confronted with whether he supported the
separation of religion and state in Canada, Delic wavered. After first
responding, “No, I don’t,” he continued, “I support Canada. What can I do.
There is no choice right now.”
In the meantime, at the Vancouver mosque, where women are not allowed to
vote for any of the male mosque leaders, a Muslim woman’s voice is being
silenced.
“I am not willing to subject myself to be judged,” says Syed. “The mosque
space should belong to all Muslims, but they have this complete control over
who can speak and who can’t.”
Ahmed Nassef is editor-in-chief of MWU! He can be reached at