Reflecting a growing anti-Muslim sentiment in Canada amid ongoing identity & niqab debates, a second Muslim woman has been attacked in a Toronto mall in front of her daughters.
\n\u201cIt hurt, yo,\u201d Safira Merriman, said in a Facebook post describing the incident, the Globe and Mail reported on Sunday, October 4.
\nThe 30-year-old Muslim woman was describing her feelings after a man blocked her path and then drove his elbow hard into her shoulder.
\nThe attack took place last week when Marriman was trying to enter Shoppers Drug Mart at Toronto\u2019s Fairview Mall with her daughters, aged nine and four.
\nThe mother of two became the second Islamophobic victim in less than a week after a pregnant veiled woman was bullied by two teenagers who pulled her hijab, causing her to fall.
\nResponding to the attack, Quebec\u2019s National Assembly passed a unanimous resolution against Islamophobia.
\n\u201cMy husband was adamant: \u2018Don\u2019t put it on, don\u2019t put it on, don\u2019t put it on,\u2019\u201d Marriman said about her niqab.
\nHe was afraid I would become a target for abuse, she said, adding: \u201cIt\u2019s a choice. No woman I\u2019ve ever met who has the niqab on has been forced to put it on. They\u2019ve all chosen to put it on out of respect for themselves.”
\n\u201cA lot of people don\u2019t realize Islam is a religion that gives women the highest degree of respect. We are protected in so many different ways.\u201d
\nMuslims are the fastest growing religious community in Canada, according to the country\u2019s statistical agency, Statistics Canada.
\nCanada\u2019s Muslim population increased by 82 percent over the past decade \u2013 from about 579,000 in 2001 to more than 1 million in 2011.
\nMuslims represent 3.2 percent of Canada\u2019s total population.<\/p>\n
Niqab Debate<\/strong> Source: OnIslam<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Reflecting a growing anti-Muslim sentiment in Canada amid ongoing identity & niqab debates, a second Muslim woman has been attacked in a Toronto mall in front of her daughters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":4827,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-c102-muslim-minorities"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nThe anti-Muslim attacks came amid heated debate about allowing women to take citizenship oath while wearing niqab.
\nLast June, Quebec government has proposed Bill 62 which calls for banning face coverings for people in public services, a suggestion criticized by Canadian Muslims for reinforcing negative stereotypes about Muslims.
\n\u201cOn social media, already we\u2019ve seen a huge spike of what appears to be anti-Muslim sentiment being expressed,\u201d Amira Elghawaby, a spokeswoman for the National Council of Canadian Muslims in Ottawa, said.
\n\u201cThis issue around the niqab has put Islam and Muslims in an extremely negative light. The entire community has been tarred with this brush of not wanting to join the Canadian family.\u201d
\nWhile most Canadians are respectful, she added, the identity issue is \u201cbeing used as a political football, and that has real ramifications for people\u2019s sense of belonging and safety.\u201d
\nOn his part, University of Ottawa law professor Natasha Bakht said: “It\u2019s very similar to what happened in Quebec during the charter of values debate, when there was a huge increase in violence against women and human-rights violations.
\n\u201cWhat\u2019s happening with the niqab becoming this huge issue is unnecessary resentment.\u201d
\nWhile hijab is an obligatory code of dress for Muslim women, the majority of Muslim scholars agree that a woman is not obliged to wear the face veil, or niqab, but believe that it is up to women to decide whether to cover her face.
\nIn a recent poll, most for the Quebeckers were found not concerned about religious accommodations.
\nThough it has the second largest Muslim population in Canada, the east-central province of Quebec is one of the most Islamophobic provinces in the country, where Muslims are facing different kinds of discrimination and racism.<\/p>\n