Senate committee on terrorism makes Kamloops imam ‘an outsider’
KAMLOOPS – An imam at a mosque near Kamloops says a new senate committee report recommending screening of religious leaders to weed out extremist factions is blatant discrimination.
Mazhar Mahmood, imam of the Ayesha Mosque just outside of Kamloops, says he feels unfairly targetted and alienated by his own government.
“Personally, I feel like an outsider in a land where I was born and raised in,” he says.
The report, released July 8, centres on countering the terrorist threat in Canada. It asserts that approximately 145 Canadians are believed to be abroad providing support to terrorist groups like the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, al Qaeda, Boko Harem and al Shabaab. Of the 25 total recommendations, one focuses specifically on religious leaders.
But it focuses on only one religious group.
“The committee heard testimony from members of the Muslim community and others that some foreign-trained imams have been spreading extremist religious ideology and messages that are not in keeping with Canadian values,” said the report from a Conservative-dominated senate committee. “These extremist ideas are said to be contributing to radicalization and raise serious concerns if they continue to go unchecked. As is the case now in Europe, the committee recommends the federal government work with the provinces and the Muslim communities to investigate the options that are available for the training and certification of Imams in Canada.”
Mahmood says the move, if enacted, would violate his Charter right to freedom of religion.
“Pastors, priests, rabbis – why aren’t they being targeted? Why is it just imams when there are extremists found in every religion? (The report) isolated one faith, targeting them for the actions of others,” he says.
Mahmood finds the recommendation insulting and wonders if the recommendation could compromise the values of his faith. He is dedicated to his vocation and worries his authority as an Imam is at risk.
“The imams, like any professional, go through rigorous studies to obtain their degrees and become certified. I am a certified imam and now there is another, so-called, third party who wants to certify my credentials. We’re already accredited, what do you want to certify?” he says.
What is most troubling for him, however, is the senate committee is making assumptions “not knowing the reality of the matter.”
“There are no radical mosques in Canada. There are certain individuals who are self-proclaimed imams who need to be targeted. People who didn’t go through a formal study. Otherwise when it comes to the formal institutions where we study, Islamic universities basically, there is zero tolerance for any violence. A person who portrays any violence in our institutions either they are reported to the authorities or they’re kicked out.”
He says extremists aren’t found in mosques, they recruit through propaganda on-line.
“There should be more attention to what is being streamed online than targeting a specific faith group.”
To contact a reporter for this story, email Dana Reynolds at dreynolds@infonews.ca or call 250-819-6089. To contact an editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
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13 responses
You know the iman “quite well,” do you? What are his cultural and religious beliefs about people like you, ie., women? Do you think he holds Canadian views of women? I’ll just bet you didn’t cover that little topic when you were getting to know him.
Mike OwensYou accused a commenter of racism, which I think was inaccurate. The person was referring to cultural practices that are in conflict with Canadian culture, such as, abject subjugation of women. We don’t cotton to that in Canada.
They aren’t hiding. They just aren’t being widely reported, partly because they are a small minority. But for a Muslim iman to pretend they don’t exist is too hard to believe.
I find Islam itself offensive lets get rid of it entirely!
so much for the land of the free eh…so much for the principles of fundamental justice that include to be presumed innocent until proven guilty….for the record those extremists are not religious but only highjack religion to use as an excuse…God does not recognize them nor do I…I along with God judge a man as an individual and his actions….Harper-Hitler is an extremist terrorist…Christy Clark is a extremist criminal….just cause they are in power doesn’t make them saints…”never forget everything hitler did was legal” MLK.
this is no longer Canada…laws…what laws? the law that takes a man’s children away from him…the law that takes a man’s driver’s license away for minor infractions effecting the ability to provide and live..the laws that allow Mount Polly and other multinational corporations to rape and pillage mother earth in the name of profit…the laws that have drenched Canada and the world in debt? perhaps you’re ignorant to the fact that Canada and the world had no debt until the 70’s. wake up, there is more to life and law than what government says is law…keep in mind all wars are legal…its law that has abanded veterans…the law that makes any man or woman who does’n’t agree or questions government a “terrorist” under the “law”….if you knew the first thing about law you would know government doesn’t create laws…its creates codes statutes and acts…that’s not law…that’s legal criminals who hold themselves above the “law”…try looking up the principles of fundamental justice and see how “lawful” government is.
So; how many have they reported to the authorities or kicked out? Where are these extremists hiding, or coming from?
Bev Pickard I’ve been following the jihadist movement in Canada and it’s far worse than Canadians are acknowledging. Instead, we get ongoing lies and myths that there isn’t a jihad in and against Canada. Ask the jihadists “why the vehemence.”
My questions are rhetorical. But feel free to go and ask him yourself if you’re so inclined and that naive.
If he does not like our laws and country, he should move back to his home. We enjoy our Country and wants to keep our people safe.
iff he don’t like fouk off back were you came from.
You agree on more points than not so why the vehemence?
I find it offensive that he would dare ask why other religious groups aren’t being targeted. He knows damn right well why not. And his lie that extremists aren’t found in mosques suggests he’s part of the problem. All one need do is search online for imans in mosques in Canada preaching violence and jihad. Several have been videoed and posted. So, we need to wonder and ask, why is he lying about this? Why the pretence if there’s nothing to hide?