Canada deserves credit for stance on Saudi abuses

Now, let’s also stand firm in the face of economic threats, Luqman Ahmed says.

I am proud of Canada for challenging Saudi Arabia in the matter of Raif Badawi and his sister, Samar Badawi, and I hope the rest of the Western world will stand with us as well. As a Canadian Muslim imam, I believe it is essential that we make our voice heard for basic human rights. Yes, Saudi Arabia has the two holy Islamic cities of Mecca and Medina, but in this case, it is Canada that is fulfilling the golden principle given by the Holy Qur’an of “standing firm in justice, even if it be against your own self.”

There is a famous saying that character is how you treat those who can do nothing for you. These individuals are not Canadian citizens. Moreover, Canada is now also risking economic loss by speaking up for them. This makes Canada’s stance even more praiseworthy and deserving of garnering international support.

Samar Badawi, an internationally recognized activist, was targeted for speaking out for basic women’s rights, including the ban on driving, which has since been lifted. She also challenged the country’s male guardianship system, which requires women to obtain permission from male family members for a range of basic life decisions. These are unjust laws that must be challenged. We cannot let the threat of economic loss stop us from shining a bright light on these dark events.

In my capacity as an imam with the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Montreal, I receive many questions about women’s rights in Islam. These questions became even more frequent after people witnessed the horrific scenes of treatment of women by ISIS and Boko Haram terrorists. At such times, it becomes even more

As a Canadian Muslim imam, I believe it is essential that we make our voice heard for basic human rights.

pertinent to highlight the practical equality of men and women in my faith. A society lacking respect and rights for women can never truly prosper.

We should not sit by silently while women like Samar Badawi are targeted for demanding fundamental rights for women. These individuals deserve all the support we can reasonably provide.

While we enjoy these freedoms, we should never be afraid to help the helpless and assist those who are worse off than us. This is why as a Muslim imam, I encourage my fellow Canadians to speak out against hateful acts that threaten our values and way of life.

Before Samar Badawi, we have also witnessed the cruel punishment and imprisonment of Raif Badawi for simply expressing his right of speech. Freedom of speech and expression is a hallmark of every free, independent society and must be protected. Punishing “blasphemy” or “unpopular opinions” goes against our fundamental values. Canada and the rest of the free world cannot afford to stay silent while basic rights such as freedom of speech are met with medieval lashings and imprisonment.

This is especially relevant to my community of Ahmadi Muslims, who are brutally targeted and killed in various countries under the guise of blasphemy laws. It is obvious that though they claim to have these blasphemy laws in the name of safeguarding faith and religion, in reality, the clerics and politicians employ them to suppress independent thinkers and to protect their own egos and political control.

A 20th-century Islamic scholar and the founder of my community, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, once wrote: “If religion has to make up for its discomfiture in argument by handling the sword, it needs no other argument for its falsification. The sword it wields cuts its own throat before reaching others.”

This certainly seems to be true for Saudis who are threatening Canada for calling them out on their inhumane and barbaric laws. However, it is now the moral responsibility of Canada and the rest of the enlightened world to continue to fight the good fight and not back down.