The MuslimVoice: Islamic Preaching, Public Speaking and Worship

"[The school] gets $6.5-million from the government]. Some of it is mine and I'm not allowed to take the course because I'm not a Muslim."
"It was the speed at which I was rejected. I [received] an email telling me her course was full. ... I was never given the option of taking her course for credit."
Moray Watson, accountant, London, Ontario

"We do not feel we have discriminated against him on the basis of religion. Here, we were concerned about the experience of students in what is a practical class and their need to apply leadership skills from a particular perspective."
Stephen McClatchie, principal, Huron College, London, Ontario

"I don't know to what extent he has a genuine interest or to what extent he has an ideological commitment to a certain world view of Muslims."
"There are people who have genuine concerns and there are ways for them to engage in discussions with Muslims, or with me, about these issues. I would think the Islam and politics class would have been much more suited to his interests."
Ingrid Mattson, London and Windsor Community Chair in Islamic Studies

Mark Wilson / Getty Images   Ingrid Mattson during a Washington news conference denouncing the growing intolerance against the Islamic faith.

More interesting activities and views out of London, Ontario. London, it appears, has become a hotbed of Islamic activities, from being the place where homegrown Muslims have departed Canada to take part in jihadist activities abroad in theatres of war, to breeding homegrown terrorists planning to set off explosives in Ottawa, and now to infiltrating universities with fundamentalist views on Islam, and spreading their ideas across the country.

It is not a particularly appealing distinguishing feature.

The Huron College course to which Moray Watson, a London accountant who is also an opponent of Islamic extremism, signed up as a student, was advertised in the syllabus as "open to Muslim men and women who offer religious leadership and/or speak publicly about Islam on behalf of their communities". The course, titled The Muslim Voice: Islamic Preaching, Public Speaking and Worship was intriguing to Mr. Watson.

He was permitted enrolment in the course initially. Second thought must have kicked in for some reason, when course organizers insisted they had no wish to open the course to auditors. Mr. Watson complained when he received notification that he would not be welcome as a student in the course. "Enrollment is limited; preference is given to matriculated students", it was pointed out.

Stephen McClatchie college principal, expressed his regret that Mr. Watson was permitted to sign for the course before the requirements for signing up were adequately clarified. "That was clearly something we should have done better. Situations like this arise and it's an occasion for us to review our auditing policy, which we will certainly be doing coming out of this, as well as our expectations coming out of pastoral colleges."

An affiliate of Western University, London, the college offers several practical religious courses whose purpose appears to be teaching future priests and Christian church leaders rhetorical and preaching skills. A course was created this year meant for Muslims, and devised by Ingrid Mattson, who holds an academic position focusing on research and teaching relevant to Islamic theology and thought.

"I thought [Mr.Watson] may have been Muslim. I had no idea when he came to class whether he was Muslim or not", Ms. Mattson explained. Mr. Watson expressed his opinion that a course on how to preach appears to him to be more suitable to take place at a mosque or a community centre, rather than within a publicly funded university.

And it's hard to find argument against that opinion, since it is fairly reasonable.