Duly Warned, Dully Confronted

"Any legitimacy given to them [mosques in Canada] as a matter of community or political outreach only further entrenches the practitioners of Islamism disguised as religion and spreading their ideology."
"The exposure of Muslims on Fridays during communal prayers to sermonizing from pulpits by imams of political situations in Muslim lands and Muslims as victims of the U.S. foreign policy, of Jews and Zionism and of Hindus in India. This is a combustible atmosphere."
"The young people and others are not breathing in the bacteria of radicalization in the air. They do get that bacteria virus somewhere and one of the areas is the mosque. And because the mosque has that symbol of sacredness to it no one from the outside wants to question it."
Salim Mansur, professor of political science, University of Western Ontario

Professor Salim Mansur -- Ottawa Citizen

"There's billions and billions of non-radicalized Muslims who go to mosques frequently, pray five times a day. It's got to be more complicated than that?"
Senator Grant Mitchell

Dr. Salim Mansur contends that most Canadian mosques are 'incubators of Islamism'. The Senate inquiry into national security threats facing Canada found themselves taken aback at the testimony given by Salim Mansur placing blame on imams and the failed-and-faulted policy of multiculturalism in the case for radicalization of young Muslims and their converted counterparts attracted to the Islamist divinely ordained doctrine of jihad.

"At homes and around family gatherings, political discussions abound as families remain tied to their native lands and cultures despite having settled in Canada", explained Dr. Mansur. And, since Dr. Mansur emanates from that very culture and the religion that spawned it, he certainly knows far more of what he speaks than the senators hearing him out, scandalously incredulous at his conclusions.

"I know many wonderful and amazing remarkable Muslim people, Canadians and otherwise", objected Liberal committee member Senator Grant Mitchell. "When you say that mosques are the incubators of Islamism, surely you're not saying that they all are?" And when Dr. Mansur responded, he certainly did not allay the incredulity of his listeners: "I don't want to say you're entering Potemkin village, but there's lot of play going on when people come to worship (at) these places. And the hard reality is not shown."

The reality is precisely as Dr. Mansur describes; that many Muslims attending prayers at their mosques of choice are confronted with and impressed by messages inimical to their circumstances as citizens of Canada and the values that are held dear within the country. The messages heard are societally divisive, and encourage religious xenophobia. Not to say that all mosques and all sects within Islam are so focused, but sufficient numbers are as to present a dire problem.

Speak with Tarek Fatah, read his books, listen to his experience and his reasoning, himself like Dr. Mansur, Muslim, but deploring the extreme fanaticism he sees around him in his adopted country. Dr. Mansur from India, Mr. Fatah from Pakistan, they have intimate knowledge and experience of the strength of fundamentalism's power in their religion; not the religion as they practise it, but that increasingly prevailing in an ever-advancing psycho-social mood of religious extremism within Islam.

"It is very complicated but we cannot walk away from the ugly reality that we, that I as a Muslim have been confronting all my life", explained Dr. Mansur to his interlocutors. "What you seem to be implying that we should restrict religious freedoms in Canada and wouldn't that be exactly what they want us to do? The Muslim religion is intrinsically a good religion. People warp all theologies", the good and forgivingly socially correct Senator Mitchell responded.

And, the final exchange of sharp questions and ripostes: "I'm trying to be fair, if I may sir, I'm trying to figure out why we should believe what you're saying to us because I have others that are telling me the opposite", Senator Vernon White, a former Ottawa Police Services chief intoned. "The simple and quick answer is there are many faces of Islam and you have to become a student of the subject matter to understand the many faces of Islam and be able to discern them", responded Dr. Mansur patiently.

But Senator White insists on dissecting Dr. Mansur's statement that an estimated 15 percent of Muslims living in Canada harbour beliefs that are seen to be extremist. "Out of that percentage what number actually take it to action (violence) in your mind, because I don't see 15 percent", prodded Senator White. "A very small fraction", allowed Dr. Mansur.

"So, less than one percent?" insisted Senator White. "Yeah, less than one percent", acknowledged Dr. Mansur.

According to the 2011 National Household Survey a total of 1,053,945 Muslims live in Canada, representing roughly 3.2% of the population. After Christianity, Islam represents the second largest religious demographic in the country, and the fastest growing. If 1% of that total Muslim population qualifies for the potential to jihadist violence, Canada has a ten-thousand population group of possible vicious fanatics in its midst.

Forewarned is not always forearmed, it seems. But then nice Canadians don't want to offend anyone, particularly by criticizing anything about their religion and some of the dicier aspects of how it affects Western society.