The Dawn Of sharia-Institution In Canada???

Canadian laws should be changed to require women to "cover
themselves" to prevent sexual assaults, says an Islamic street preacher
in Toronto.

Al-Haashim Kamena Atangana, a 33-year-old Islamic convert, called for
legal change in response to recent sex attacks at York University.

Atangana is connected with a group called Muslim Support Network and
is one of a number of street-corner clerics commonly seen at the Yonge
and Dundas Sts.

In an e-mail to the Toronto Sun, Atangana said "the reason ... these
sex attacks are continuously happening is because (of) Canadian laws,
which give too much freedom to women" when it comes to how they dress.

"You should take your example from the way Muslim women dress," he
wrote. "Why does (sic) Muslim women who wear long dress and covers her
head aren't targeted for sex attacks?"

The clash between western culture and values and the beliefs of some
Muslim adherents has been a source of controversy and conflict across
North America.

Atangana, who plans to distribute his views on paper in the coming
weeks, went on to state that "the reason ... a woman gets raped is
because of the way she (dresses)," and suggests that "Toronto (become)
the first city in North America to introduce laws that would make it
illegal for women to dress provocatively."

If Toronto did this, Atangana said in an interview, other Canadian cities would follow suit.

"If (women) want to prevent being sexually assaulted, they should
cover themselves," said Atangana, adding that while he doesn't expect
Western women to dress as Muslim women do, they should have a "dress
code" and take note of the burka the head scarf and face veil some
Muslim females wear.

Atangana says he began planning to distribute his views after a
recent spate of sex assaults at York University's Keele campus, and
praised Const. Michael Sanguinetti, a Toronto police officer who ended
up in hot water after telling students at a York University safety forum
in January 2011 that women should avoid dressing like "sluts" if they
didn't want to be victimized.

The website Atangana provided for his group, Muslimsupport.net,
is sparsely populated but contains links to other sites that offer
advice on conversion to Islam and Islamic dress, including such advice
as this:

"Men must cover their body from the navel to the knees. But when praying he must also cover his shoulder."

"Women must cover their whole body except the face, hands and feet
while inside. But they are also required to cover their whole body
including a part of the face while going out, according to the majority
of the Madhabs (school of thought)."

Moderate Muslim writer Tarek Fatah says Atangana's view is a stark
example of radical Islamist misogyny. It is an example, Fatah says, of
passages taken from the Qur'an, Islam's holy book, and exaggerated to
fit an antiquated, patriarchal ideology such as that of the Muslim
Brotherhood.

"This is not about what women wear," Fatah said. "This is about ...
some Muslim men believing that any woman whose head is uncovered is fair
game because she is lustful...and doesn't belong to the pious (Islamic)
sisterhood."

Fatah says it is "hogwash" to think a woman wearing traditional
Islamic dress will not be sexually assaulted, and points to an on-going
problem of sexual harassment in Egypt, where Muslim faith dominates.

According to a 2008 report from the Egyptian Center for Women's
Rights, 83% of Egyptian women had experienced some form of sexual
harassment or assault at some point. And well, over half of those
surveyed around 70% wore veils of some kind, particularly head scarves.

"These results disprove the belief that sexual harassment is linked
to the way women dress," the report states. "This confirms that the
stereotypical ideas of a patriarchal culture that blames women even if
they are victims, is opposite to reality."

But Alia Hogben of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women sees things
differently: Atangana's opinions are not as much to do with Islam as
much as they reflect a general patriarchal desire among some men to
control women.

"There is absolutely no connection between how women dress and being
sexually assaulted," Hogben said, adding that other religions from
Judaism to Christianity have traditional dress codes of their own. She
did agree, however, that "good, pious" Muslim women are sexually
harassed, despite wearing modest and traditional clothing.

"If (Atangana) thinks good, pious Muslim women are not sexually
assaulted, he's wrong. If he thinks this is not happening in India or
Egypt ... it is not true."

As for Atangana, who converted to Islam in 1998 after finding the
Trinity of Christianity the belief in God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit too
"confusing," he remains steadfast in his views.

"Women here should have a dress code," he says. "That would prevent sexual assault."

terry.davidson@sunmedia.ca

ENDQUOTE

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