Muslim leader fears backlash over Liberal views

[frigidmagi]

MISSISSAUGA NEWS

The new president of the Muslim Canadian Congress (MCC) says she is feeling the wrath of Islamic fundamentalists because of her stance on such issues as terrorism, homosexuality and religious law.

Now, Mississauga's Farzana Hassan Shahid is calling on Queen's Park to intervene. She wants Ontario Attorney General Michael Bryant to incorporate the kind of threats made by various radical groups against her and other members of the MCC into the framework of existing hate crime laws.

"There is an underlying fear all the time...that uneasy feeling is part of my daily life," Hassan Shahid told The News. "I have been declared an apostate (a person who forsakes their religion) twice, for opposing the Sharia (a form of Islamic law). We have asked Michael Bryant to include or acknowledge accusation of blasphemy and apostasy into the existing hate laws so the public and legal frame work is sensitized to this issue."

Hassan Shahid said she and other members of her organization receive threatening e-mails and are subjected to other acts of hatred from radical Muslim groups. One strongly worded hate-mail accused her of being the, "younger sister of Satan."

More recently, Hassan Shahid has been in the eye of the storm for her organization's stance on homosexuality. Her husband was questioned by some congregation members at a local mosque recently and ordered to, "control his wife."

"I got a lot of negative e-mails from the Muslim community, questioning my stand on gay and lesbian issues," she said. "I had a hard time explaining to them that I am not supporting homosexuals, but supporting equal rights for them."

MCC's vocal opposition of violence, too, doesn't sit well with the fundamentalist, she said. Hassan Shahid said many Muslims are angry and accuse the organization of not supporting the plight of Muslims in places such as Chechnya, Palestine and Serbia.

"We have denounced terrorism with a type of clarity that is really needed now," Hassan Shahid said. "When we do that we are accused of not understanding the political conflicts abroad...we're really caught between the devil and the deep blue sea."

MCC's former communications director, Tarek Fatah resigned from his post after receiving death threats.

Sohail Raza, the present communications director of MCC, said radical elements are changing mosques, that were once great cultural entities, and relegating them into places where rituals are enforced.

"I think where we lose out is the ability to discuss," Raza said. "The stand is not a line in the sand, every body has a right to interpret their own religion, every body has the right to debate and discuss issues, unfortunately that is lacking and that is what we want to encourage in a democratic society like Canada."

Well I found a moderate muslim... In fear of her life... In Canada. [/url]