www.newsandletters.org
|
|
NEWS & LETTERS, November 2004Woman as Reason
Struggle against Shari'a in Canada
by Mary Jo Grey and Terry Moon A horrific threat to women in some Middle Eastern and
African countries--Shari'a law--is now haunting the lives of Muslim women in
Canada. But not without a fight. It started when the province of Ontario passed the
Arbitration Act in 1991, diverting some civil and family law cases to
arbitration by religious groups, supposedly to relieve their overloaded court
system. Then, in the fall of 2003, promoters of political Islam (Islamic
fundamentalism) created the Islamic Institute of Civil Justice as arbitrators in
what would be a Shari'a court in Muslim communities in Ontario. This is the
first time Shari'a has legal validity in a western country. The driving force behind this, Syed Mumtaz Ali,
proclaimed: "a Muslim who would choose to opt out [of Shari'a]...would be
guilty of a far greater crime than a mere breach of contract--and this would be
tantamount to blasphemy or apostasy,"crimes punishable by death in many
countries. So much for choice. Under Shari'a a woman's testimony counts for half
of a man's; daughters receive half the inheritance of sons; men are
automatically awarded custody of children over seven; women have no right to
choose a husband, clothing, a residence, and cannot travel without their
husband's consent. As we saw in Nigeria last year, only a global outpouring by
women's and human rights groups saved Amina Lawal from execution by stoning,
after she was convicted of adultery by a Shari'a court. Considering that reality, it was shocking that
organizations like the Canadian Council of Muslim Women were not consulted about
having Shari'a courts in Canada. Council President Alia Hogben said her group is
strongly opposed and is lobbying hard for Ontario to change the Arbitration Act.
Opposition has been growing worldwide, with demonstrations in September in
Ontario and British Columbia, and at the Canadian embassies in England and
Germany. One of the strongest voices of opposition is Homa
Arjomand, coordinator of the International Campaign Against Shari'a Court in
Canada. As a human rights activist in Iran, she barely escaped (on horseback
through the mountains) with her husband and two young children in 1989, before
she could be arrested, imprisoned and executed by the Islamic fundamentalist
government. Today, as a social worker near Toronto, she helps abused
Muslim women and children. According to Arjomand, battered women coming from
Islamic countries--who often don't speak English, lack education and are
isolated in their communities--receive no government help, and, again, face
oppressive Shari'a. "We must separate religion from the state," she
insists. DANGER OF CULTURAL RELATIVISM Some charge that supporters of Shari'a are getting away
with these abuses by using cultural relativism. Iranian feminist Azar Majedi,
speaking in Canada at a demonstration on International Women's Day (IWD), spoke
for many there: "Culture has come to take precedence over human rights,
equality, liberation, rights of individuals, children's rights and women's
rights--concepts and issues which have long been argued and have prominence in
modern and civilized civil societies....There is NO justification for assigning
such a prominent status to culture, which overshadows any sense of justice,
equality and freedom and the achievements of long battles fought by
freedom-loving people and socialists for more than two centuries." While acknowledging that Iranian women have been
"victims of political Islam," she declared: "But we are not mere
victims. We belong to a vibrant, dynamic, strong, and progressive movement,
which has fought political Islam not only in Iran, not only in Iraq, and not
only in the Middle East but also here in the West. We have raised the banner of
freedom and equality not only for women but for humanity and are fighting to
push back religion to its rightful place--that is to the private sphere." GLOBAL WOMEN'S MOVEMENT The internationalism of this movement is seen in how
women at IWD contended: "It is an extension of the same movement in Iraq
[to impose Shari'a in Canada] that has threatened to kill Yanar Mohammed of the
Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq." An outspoken supporter of the Arbitration Act is B'nai
Brith Canada, a Jewish human rights organization. Exactly whose human rights
they are interested in was brought out by Evelyn Brook, president of the
Coalition of Jewish Women for the Get (divorce) in Montreal, who expressed grave
doubts that Jewish women could trust a Jewish religious court. The former Ontario Attorney General Marion Boyd is
finalizing her review of the Arbitration Act, at the request of Ontario Premier
Dalton McGuinty. Her report and suggestions for changes is due as we go to
press. At the same time, Salam Elmenyawi, head of the Muslim Council of
Montreal, is holding talks with the Quebec justice department to bring binding
Shari'a arbitration to Quebec. Why is this cancer spreading in the West? The truth is
that religious fundamentalism is not a foreign doctrine that's relegated to the
Middle East, Africa, or developing countries. It resides in style in the U.S.
and other so-called "Christian countries." This is seen, for example,
in how the U.S. and the Vatican happily join hands with repressive theocratic
states like Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Iran when it comes to driving women back to
the dark ages, as well as stifling all movements for human liberation. The
absolute opposite of such retrogression is not Western governments which easily
succumb to arguments of cultural relativism. The absolute opposite is a new
truly human society and those committed to fight for it. |
|
Home l News & Letters Newspaper l Back issues l News and Letters Committees l Dialogues l Raya Dunayevskaya l Contact us l Search Published by News and Letters Committees |
