Article Added On: December 23, 2004 - over 3 years ago
Title: Imam issues fatwa against conference
Author: Colin Freeze and Aparita Bhandari
Publication: The Globe and Mail
Publication Date: January 01, 2004 - over 4 years ago
Faith Groups: Muslim
Themes: religious tolerance/intolerance

Abstract: A local imam has issued a warning against a major Islamic conference scheduled to be held this weekend in Toronto, decrying one of North America's most popular Muslim gatherings as unholy. The imam declares that organizers have no knowledge of the Islamic sharia law and its aims, and the conference is just a fa

Wednesday, December 22, 2004

A major Islamic conference is expected to draw an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 Muslims to the SkyDome this weekend to hear various international speakers -- but the scholarly religious views they are expounding are too diverse for one local imam who has issued a warning against the event.

Tariq Abdelhaleem, director of the Dar Al-Arqam Islamic Centre in Mississauga, has issued a fatwa, or Islamic legal opinion, decrying one of North America's most popular Muslim gatherings as unholy. Regarded by his critics as a minor local figure whose "extremist" opinions don't carry much weight, Mr. Abelhaleem's fatwa is nevertheless circulating through Canada and around the world on the Internet.

These critics of his strongly worded missive -- which takes shots at "Zionists and Crusaders" while urging Muslims to stay away from the conference because it is not Islamic enough -- call it a "stupid" interpretation of the Koran. Still, some young Canadian Muslims are said to be fearful of attending the conference because the argument has led them to think that taking part may cause them to burn in hell.

After Mr. Abelhaleem was asked his opinion on the legitimacy of the conference, he posted the fatwa on his centre's website at www.alarqam.com. His reasoning is raising eyebrows in Canada and around the world as it is disseminated through e-mail.

"Our Muslim brothers and sisters are dying in Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan, Chechnya and other parts of the world. The puppet systems that are in power in the Islamic World are collaborating with the Crusaders and Zionists to keep theUmmah [Muslim community] under oppression," the website says.

Unity among Muslims is urgently necessary, the statement argues, but the presence of a number of speakers whom Imam Abelhaleem considers unholy will corrupt even the "good speakers" who are to attend the conference. He declares that organizers have no knowledge of the Islamic sharia (law) and its aims, and the conference is just a fa