RUTHFULLY YOURS

A little backbone on the part of educators might go a long way toward promoting Islamic integration. Of course, before they do that, the initial step would be to recognise that gender equality is a rather more valuable concept than the fashionable exaltation of identity politics.
A few thoughts on the controversy surrounding the issue of Muslim schoolboys’ refusal to shake hands with women being endorsed by those responsible for supervising their educations.

Firstly, it is not clear that this is, per se, an expression of misogyny, as many are claiming. The specific hadith supposedly says:

The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: ‘If one of you were to be struck in the head with an iron needle, it would be better for him than if he were to touch a woman he is not allowed to’.

That reference goes on to say:

There is no doubt that for a man to touch a non-mahram woman is one of the causes of fitnah (turmoil, temptation), provocation of desire and committing haraam deeds.

So it is clear this is not about women being unclean but, rather, about the inability of Muslim men to control their baser urges. Surely, Muslim men (sensible ones, at any rate) should feel outraged at this slight. Sadly, this brings to mind the remarks of Sheik Hilaly, then Australia’s most senior Muslim cleric, who in 2006 infamously likened uncovered women to cat meat. “If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside on the street, or in the garden or in the park, or in the backyard without a cover, and the cats come and eat it … whose fault is it, the cats or the uncovered meat?” he asked his lakemba congregation.

“If she was in her room, in her home, in her hijab,” he continued, “no problem would have occurred.”

Secondly, if we look at the strict wording of the relevant hadith, might it not be argued that ‘touch’ in this context means rather more than a casual physical contact, such as shaking hands, but ‘touching’ in a sexual context?

My point is that this is just one more example of Islam’s inability to adapt to changing times and the mores of societies other than those of the Arabian Peninsula in seventh century. I wonder how vigorously this particular hadith is observed in countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia? How does it work in the case of paramedics, nurses, doctors, firemen? Are exceptions made in such cases and, if so, why not in this country to accommodate the host society’s cultural practices?

My curious tickled, I came across this advice detailing Islamic doctrine in regard to the medical treatment of Muslim women, who must first seek medical counsel and treatment from a female Muslim doctor. Should such not be available, a non-Muslim female medico is the second preference, followed by a Muslim male and, last of all, a non-Muslim man.

As to shaking hands with women, this source of Islamic guidance explains that Allah is against it

Some Muslims feel too embarrassed to refuse when a woman offers her hand to them. In addition to mixing with women, some of them claim that they are forced to shake hands with fellow-students and teachers in schools and universities, or with colleagues in the workplace, or in business meetings and so on, but this is not an acceptable excuse.

The Muslim should overcome his own feelings and the promptings of the Shaytaan, and be strong in his faith, because Allah is not ashamed of the truth. The Muslim could apologize politely and explain that the reason he does not want to shake hands is not to offend or hurt anybody’s feelings, but it is because he is following the teachings of his religion. In most cases this will earn him respect from others. There is no harm done if they find it strange at first, and it may even be a practical opportunity for da’wah. And Allaah knows best.

A small number of Canadians took signs and banners to a mosque in downtown Toronto to protest what was being said inside — namely, the imam’s desire that Jews be killed one by one. When police received complaints, however, they acted swiftly and purposefully… announcing they were investigating the protestors. Const. Allyson Douglas-Cook explained to CBC Toronto that they wondered if the protestors had perpetrated a hate crime:

There’s a “fine line,” Douglas-Cook said, between the free expression of thoughts and views, and breaching the law or violating a particular group.

Asked what that line is, Douglas-Cook responded: “That’s a conversation we’ve been having all day.”

Here’s an idea that doesn’t even come close to a “fine line,” and it doesn’t even require one of those long, irritating conversations: if people are advocating for the mass genocide of Jews, maybe the police should pay attention to those guys. (Pssst: advocating for genocide is a criminal code offense in Canada.) But is that what is really happening inside the mosque? Surely they’re not so bold as to actually advocate for the slaughtering of people who oppose them, right?

Thankfully, someone filmed inside the mosque and discovered that’s exactly what’s happening:

Note that the man praying asks Allah to count the number of people who oppose Islam, and kill them one by one. “Spare not one of them,” he says.

Well, that seems pretty clear to me, but apparently it took a little time for the Canadian police to get clued in. Finally, they decided not to investigate the people at the rally. No word if they’re investigating the people inside the mosque.

France’s Muslim population could quickly grow to close to 15-17 million, but no one can know precisely unless the law prohibiting the official collection of ethnic data is changed.

These figures do not take into consideration the Muslim population that immigrated to France from North Africa in the 1960s and early 1970s. There are a few million of them — nobody knows how many exactly. For demographers, their grandchildren and great-grandchildren are not regarded as immigrants anymore. These Muslims are, rather, integrated into statistics as French citizens born of French parents. They are Muslim, but under the statistics radar.

From time to time, France’s National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee) offers a glimpse of the ethnic composition of French society. The study, “Being born in France to an immigrant parent” (Être né en France d’un parent immigré), published in February 2017, is one of them.

Like few other glimpses, the Insee study offers a partial view of the ethnic composition of the French population. A statistical breakdown — with the answer to the perennial question: how many Muslims in France? — would be perceived as discriminatory and outrageous. Given France’s “integration model,” nobody should dare identify people by their origins, religion, color of skin and so on. A Frenchman is a Frenchman, whatever the color of his skin or his religion, and any measurement of the sub-Saharan population — for example, their level of education, that of their children, the type of jobs their parents are doing, how many times they go to mosque or if they have spent time in prison — is illegal, discriminatory and racist. Sub-Saharan populations must disappear in aggregate data about French people.

The study, however, provides some telling information. In 2015, 7.3 million people born in France had at least one immigrant parent (11% of the population). Of these 7.3 million people, 45% are of European origin, most of whom are children of immigrants who arrived in France from Spain (8%) or Italy (12%) as early as the 1930s, or from Portugal in the 1970s onwards. One can assume, although it is not written in the study, that these people are of Christian origin.

Another group is composed of Africans. 42% of the 7.3 million children born in France to an immigrant parent are of African background, mainly North Africa. They came from Algeria (15%), Morocco (11%), Tunisia (5%) and sub-Saharan Africa (11%). Although it is also not specified in the study, it would seem that the great majority are Muslim.

Another group, children from Turkish migrant families, represent 4% of the 7.3 million. These people are classified as Asian; they are not included in the African and Muslim group. Most of these Turks are also presumably Muslim.

A conclusion therefore would assume that 46% of the descendants of immigrants are Muslim and 45% are Christian. The remaining 9% are from East Asia or the Americas.