Canadians’ acts of compassion soften the sting of intolerance

Respect shown after Qu’ran torn apart truly inspiring, writes M. Wasif Hussain.

Last Canada Day, I took the big leap of moving to downtown Toronto for a year of training. It’s never easy for a born-and-raised Edmontonian to leave his hometown for a year (especially when it happens to be the year the Oilers finally break their playoff curse) but I felt it was necessary to gain skills in order to serve my community.

The year thus far has definitely been a rewarding one for both personal and professional growth. It allowed me to really explore and travel to various parts of Eastern Canada that I had not yet had the chance to visit.

I’ve had good food, met some great people and overall had a great year.

But, as a Canadian Muslim, there have been times where things took a darker turn and it has been a more difficult year than I expected.

Midway through the year, I was horrified to hear about the tragic shooting at a mosque in Quebec City.

It hit even closer to home when a small group of protesters gathered outside the mosque I frequent for Friday prayers. They were raucous, chanting extremely hurtful and negative slogans.

This was not the Canada I grew up in, one of multiculturalism, inclusion and tolerance. Although this small group with their loud megaphones grabbed the headlines, those who live here experienced the story a bit differently.

There were overwhelming amounts of support and counterprotests that went on for weeks. Canadians of all ethnic, racial, and religious backgrounds came out in droves on cold Friday afternoons armed with warm greetings, steaming coffee and adorned the mosque with welcoming signs of togetherness. These selfless acts not only reaffirmed my love of this country’s values, but also reminded me of how this nation’s strength is derived from its diversity.

It is for this precise reason that I was shocked to hear about the recent controversy regarding Friday prayers within the Peel Region School Board. For over 15 years, Muslim students in the Peel Region would attend Friday prayers on school grounds and have a student volunteer to give the sermon.

Despite the charter of the school board having a clear religious accommodation clause and many members of the board strongly endorsing this view, the board moved in November to ban this practice and provided six scripted “pre-approved” sermons to students.

After intense criticism, the board reversed this decision in January.

But, unfortunately, this led to unnecessary attention and backlash with extreme antiIslamic groups such as Rise Canada latching on to the issue. This group claims to “defend Canadian values, which often conflict with the Islamic way of thinking.”

On the day of a trustee’s meeting, a video depicting a man callously tearing out pages of the Qu’ran and stepping on them spread over social media like wildfire. But again, shining beacons of hope emerged. A lady in the video stood up and would not let what was happening go on without a fight. Even though she was standing alone face-to-face with this man surrounded by his supporters, she showed remarkable courage and tenacity and I commend her for standing when no one else would. However, what truly moved me was what transpired after the meeting.

Instead of simply disposing of the torn Qu’ran, members of the school board carefully and painstakingly gathered all of the pages strewn across the floor. They put them together and brought them to local imams asking what should be done with it. I can’t describe how much this seemingly small act so profoundly touched me. It is the perfect microcosm of what makes Canada great for acts of kindness and consideration will always bring us together and heal divisions in times of darkness.

On July 1, I move back home to Edmonton knowing that through individuals like those board members, that courageous lady, and those counter-protesters, our shared values of love, respect and compassion will persevere through the challenges that lie ahead.