Canadian mosque accuses paper of 'extremism'

A Canadian mosque that came under fire last week for publishing slurs and advocating a conservative lifestyle for Muslims is fighting back against what it said was distortion and discrimination.

Mohamed Abou-Bakr, an official at the administration of the Khalid Bin al-Walid Mosque in Toronto told AlArabiya.net that the mosque had sent a complaint to the Canadian newspaper the Toronto Star after an article alleging it publicized slurs against Jews and western societies on its website and warned members against integration.

The complaint accused the paper of "distorting" the content of the mosque's website in an attempt to "turn society against the mosque by charging it and the entire Muslim community in Canada of terrorism."

"The administration will seek legal advice if we don't get a response to the complaint," said Bakr in an interview.

The official accused the paper of "discrimination, extremism, and terrorism."

The paper reported Thursday that the website's Questions and Answer section featured racist, anti-Jewish and anti-Western responses that were supposedly reviewed by the mosque’s imam.

"Is it permissible for women to wear high heeled-shoes?" one reader asked, to which the reply was no. "It involves resembling the Disbelieving Women or the wicked women. It has its origin among the Jewish women," read the explanation

The site reportedly went on to say that once (a Muslim woman) becomes introduced to the wickedness of Western ideology and concepts ... (she) becomes fixated on trying to appear and act like her "role models" of corruption.

A disclaimer on the website noted that questions and answers did not necessarily reflect the mosque's views, said the Star. But the About Us page declares that the mosque's imam, Bashir Yusuf Shiil, "prepared, approved, and supervised" all questions and answers on the site.

UPS case settles

But Bakr said the policy had changed and the answers no longer necessarily reflected the official viewpoint.

"In the beginning all questions and answers were posted after the approval of the mosque's imam, but when the questions increased and the imam got busier, we wrote that not everything posted represents our point of view,” he said. “For example, the high heel fatwa was issued by Sheikh Nasser al-Deen al-Albani and it is his opinion and he takes responsibility for it."

He added that the mosque administration does not view the West or any other religion as its enemy and has nothing against women working.

The mosque submitted a letter supporting eight Somali women who filed a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission against the delivery service UPS claiming that the company dress code violated their religious freedom. The women were fired in 2005 for not adhering wearing shorter skirts because they said Islam requires they be fully covered for modesty.

The case settled on Monday although the terms of the agreement were not made public.

"What the paper said is contradictory with the mosque's stance about the work of women. The mosque supported women who were fired because of the veil,” said Bakr. “If a woman doesn't have a financial supporter, she has the right to work."

The Toronto mosque, founded in 1990, serves about 10,000 people and is known for preaching strict adherence to Islamic Sharia law.

What the paper said is contradictory with the mosque's stance about the work of women. The mosque supported women who were fired because of the veil.

Mohamed Abou-Bakr, Khalid Bin al-Walid Mosque