thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
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 Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 10:07 pm Post subject: A Canadian solution to "islamophobia" |
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| Quote: |
| Quebec Muslims pledge to avoid "exaggerated" demands for accommodation, rein in hate preachers |
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=654fd913-98d6-4498-9563-0912f8a821dc&k=96983
| Quote: |
SHERBROOKE - The burgeoning Muslim population in Quebec is organizing itself to avoid "exaggerated" demands for special treatment and rein in "preachers of hate," the Bouchard-Taylor commission heard this morning.
"The Muslim community is large, but distinctions must be made," said Abdallah Annab, president of the Association des marocaines et des marocains de l'Estrie, which represents many of the 1,500 Muslims in the Eastern Townships.
"A Muslim from Afghanistan is not a Muslim from the Maghreb - there are several doctrines, there is Sunni Islam and Shi'ite Islam, and there are clear divisions between them," said Annab, a Sunni from Morocco who works in Sherbrooke as a tax auditor for Revenu Quebec.
His association prepared its brief with the local Sunni Muslim association in Sherbrooke "in order to find a basis of agreement to ensure that our image as Muslims is not tarnished and there aren't any exaggerated demands for accommodation," he said.
"In general, there aren't many that are exaggerated," he added.
But one way to short-circuit unreasonable demands is to rein in imams at mosques who fill the faithful's heads with distorted views of Quebec society, Annab said.
"We do suggest that there be limits to what (Muslim) preachers say. They should adapt to the reality here and understand the realities of Quebec society," Annab told commissioners Gerard Bouchard and Charles Taylor.
"Because what happens sometimes - and we don't know how they wind up here - is that preachers come here to preach hate," he said.
"And we must insist on this point, that people who give religious instruction be informed, and that there be some kind of control over what they say." |
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