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Little mosque on the tundra

PATRICK WHITE

From Thursday's Globe and Mail

Latest comment posted at 9:45 AM EDT 06/12/07

In the land of the midnight sun, Yellowknife's growing Muslim community grapples with a harsh climate, geographic hardship and faith on the frontier ...Read the full article

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  1. M K from Canada writes: 'In a big city, it's much easier to become isolated in your religious community and not consider the outside world,' says Mr. Abdel Mejid. 'This is such a small community that you have to be a part of it. We have to engage with other religions. I know it's not the Islam way, but it's good for me and good for my religion.'

    This is a beautiful statement.
  2. F/A josquin from van, Canada writes: Imagine a world in which generations of human beings come to believe that certain films were made by God or that specific software was coded by him. Imagine a future in which millions of our descendants murder each other over rival interpretations of Star Wars or Windows 98. Could anything -- anything -- be more ridiculous? And yet, this would be no more ridiculous than the world we are living in.'
    — Sam Harris, The End of Faith

    'Religion is the process of unconscious wish fulfillment, where, for certain people, if the process did not take place it would put them in self-danger of coming to mental harm, being unable to cope with the idea of a godless, purposeless life.'
    — Sigmund Freud

    There is no god
  3. Banofee Pie from Toronto, Canada writes: Engaging with other religions is 'not the Islam way'? What??!? I think that is perhaps one Muslim's view of his religion, thankfully not the view of most. That's just crazy talk. This is why fundamentalist Muslims vs moderate Muslims find it hard to adapt in a Westernized country/city. Many muslims are not dogmatic, but comments like that are a bit of a concern. If you are moving to a multicultural society, you do yourself no favours by not socializing or mixing it up. To close yourself off and only socialize/congregate with people of your own religion is narrowminded and quite frankly bigoted. No difference between a strict muslim then and a white supremacist who thinks socializing with other races is beneath them.
  4. Dana Bergman from London, Canada writes: You folks are silly. Just silly.

    I think it's great that people are moving to Canada and living in the north. I don't see a lot of Canadian-born people snapping up the available jobs in the north, so quitcher bitchin'.
  5. s. hussain from Canada writes: Now, now, folks. Let's not dwell too much on the comment of this one Muslim dude in Yellowknife. I am a hijab wearing Muslim in University and some of my very close friends are not Muslim but I essentially live with them (students somehow end up living on campus) and their religious status has no bearing on our friendship. Clearly, I have no problem and my family has no problem in interacting with non-Muslims and making friends with them.

    I can see that it's a disturbing comment, in fact, it's annoying for me because a lot of non-Muslims will take that comment and say, 'see, these are the peace loving moderate Muslims for you.' So, the only point I am trying to make is that please don't generalize.

    Cheers,
    S
  6. Stephen Penney from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada writes: Who's Sam Harris or Sigmund Freud? Nobody cares about those chumps.

    I would say anyone who compares religion or religious texts to a software program/device is too much of an idiot to be worth reading.
  7. Paige Turner from United States writes: The metaphor used was brilliant. You have to understand satire! Bravo F/A Josquin for your analogy.
  8. Osman Aboul-Nasr, Proud Canadian from United States writes: The attitude of the Muslims in that community reminds me of the attitude of the majority of Muslims in the rest of Canada till the early eighties. We were part of the whole mosaic, and added to its beauty through our difference. We participated and were not isolated. Our differences were largely respected. There are still a majority of us that feel this way, and are accepted by a majority of others. Extremism in any form is abhorrent.
  9. Javed B from Oakville, Canada writes: I am not aware of any such thing as engaging with other religions and mixing with ones community is “..not the Islam way.&8221;. I am not sure what this person is trying to say. I will let it go due to his lack of understanding of the English language. If he is the Imam then he is here from Egypt on temporary basis, so we know about his command over English.

    Let us assume for a moment and only for a moment that what he said was right then he should not be the Imam or the head of the mosque anyways because he is moving away from the &8220;teachings of Islam&8221;. According to him &8216;I know it's not the Islam way, but it's good for me and good for my religion.&8221; Since when the Muslims have been allowed to bend the teachings of Islam for themselves. His comment &8220;&8230;good for my religion.&8221; does not make sense at all after he has made such a disturbing remark about his religion. I am sure reasonable people know that he did not mean what he said.

    Wow!! Such a small remark and such a big impact. People now have something more negative to talk about Islam as if they didn&8217;t have enough.
  10. Dale A. Robertson from Ottawa, Canada writes: I doiubt if an Islamic community in Yellowknife will be a permanent fixture. When Ramadan, with its daylight fasting, arrives at the time of 24 hour days, they will all die of starvation.
  11. Mr. Justice from Canada writes: SP: . . . Do you believe that their IS one, true religion? If so, which one ? Thanks so much.
  12. M K from Canada writes: I was actually thinking that the 'but it's good for me and good for my religion.'' part was a positive evolution from an orthodox believer into a more open-minded one, but typical that most people should view the statement as negative. People like Banoffee Pie need to relax with the hysteria.
  13. R J from Montreal, Canada writes: I believe the North American media is spending entirely too much time dwelling on the habits of a small minority of people. Why not give them some privacy as I am sure they are as tired of this as the rest of us are.

    Desperately seeking real news....

    Buddhist from Mtl - namaste
  14. Guy Olivier from Columbus, Ohio, United States writes: 'Mr. Justice from Canada writes: SP: . . . Do you believe that their IS one, true religion? If so, which one ? Thanks so much.'

    There is one true religion and it teaches peace and harmony and respect for each other and it pleases all who live on earth... it just hasn't made it's way into our earthly societies yet.
  15. True Canadian from Hamilton, Canada writes: Religion make the religious leaders powerful and rich. Thats all it does!!

    1 million innocent Iraqi civilians got killed. More than half of them are children. Where is GOD?

    When a man gives 'true' love then he becomes the GOD!!
  16. Javed B from Oakville, Canada writes: This is my suggestion to Mr. Justice:

    If you ask anyone and he will say that his religion is the true religion. There is no use asking people about the truth of their religion.

    Don't look at the people or the followers of any religion or faith. Set aside the religion that you were born with and leave all the biases and prejudices behind and make an effort on your behalf and search for the truth yourself. Believe it or not the truth will speak to you itself. Truth has spoken to people who have looked for it in the past, and you are no different. Once you find the truth you will find the peace and that will be the answer to your question and that will lead you to your ultimate destiny. Success will follow you in this life and the life after death ( if you believe in it). Today is the first day of the rest of your life. It is never too late. Good luck in your journey to find the truth. Be steadfast and you will not be disappointed.
  17. Banofee Pie from Toronto, Canada writes: MK, if you read my comments properly, you would have read that I believe most Muslims are moderate, regular people. I initially thought this guy was going from being a little close-minded to being openminded but then wondered if he isn't doing that out of necessity. At the end of the day, it's a good thing that he came around yes, but the fact that he thinks mixing with other religions is generally a no-no and 'not the Islam way' is a bit disconcerting and just plain wrong.

    As another poster pointed out here, he makes other Muslims look bad. The majority mix freely with others and don't think of it as being anti-Islam.

    I don't see any hysteria in what I said.
  18. Ken Cowan from Paris, France writes: The man's last statements were - to my mind - very positive. He first states that engaging with other religions is not the Muslim way - he is probably speaking historically. Then he says that 'it's good for me and good for my religion.' he is probably looking at the long term effects. It seems obvious that he finds engagement positive ...

    I do not see why anyone would take what he says as bad. MY only concern is the idea of an imam from Egypt - he might be more fundamentalist than one coming from a more open society.
  19. Alain S. from Canada writes: I dream of a world with no religions and plenty of spirituality instead.
  20. Lawrence Hutchinson from United States writes: s. hussain from Canada writes the only point I am trying to make is that please don't generalize.

    It only takes a few radicals to cause havoc (New York, Pentagon, London, Madrid, Bali). And the so-called 'moderates' seem reluctant to speak out against these outrages.
  21. tom h from Canada writes: Well of course nobody bothered you about your head scarf - it's f*ing COLD in Yellowknife!
  22. Patriots in 2007 from Toronto, Canada writes: I find one of the last comments in the article amusing about how Yellowknife residents are accepting of headscarves. Of course they are!!! Everybody's wearing a scarf, or a toque or whatever. You can probably only see the eyes of ALL women in Yellowknife, muslim or no, because it's too freakin' cold!!!
  23. Arron D from Ottawa, Canada writes: Alain, there'd still be people bitchin' about how spiritual you are or are not, it's just humanity that's the problem.
  24. J Lee from North Vancouver, Canada writes: So to engage with others in the community he has to break the rules of islam. Exactly. The sooner all muslims do that the sooner they will be able to join the Canadian mosaic. Will he also admit that sharia law has no place in Canada? And will he admit that free speech is a fundamental principle of our society? And will he uphold the principle of free speech even if some of us say nasty things about his prophet? Unless he can agree to these things he will never be part of my community. If he can then he is welcome.
  25. john adamson from Canada writes: Lawrence Hutchinson writes: It only takes a few radicals to cause havoc (New York, Pentagon, London, Madrid, Bali). And the so-called 'moderates' seem reluctant to speak out against these outrages.

    Yes, this is why Bush is still in power - because almost everyone has 'been reluctant' to speak out against a fundamentalist leader.
  26. admore inches from Toronto, Canada writes: Lawrence, I don't think moderate Muslims should have to speak out against radicals.

    As a Christian, I certainly don't feel the need to speak out against Christians who murder abortion doctors or priests who molested children.

    I know it is wrong, but I don't feel that I have to publically state that I don't support their actions.
  27. siren call from Canada writes: Osman Aboul-Nasr, Proud Canadian from United States writes: The attitude of the Muslims in that community reminds me of the attitude of the majority of Muslims in the rest of Canada till the early eighties.
    .........................

    What happened in the early 80's to change this?
  28. siren call from Canada writes: Lawrence Hutchinson from United States writes:
    It only takes a few radicals to cause havoc (New York, Pentagon, London, Madrid, Bali). And the so-called 'moderates' seem reluctant to speak out against these outrages.
    ..................

    I don't know how it is in the US, but here, it seems as though moderates in the Muslim community (whatever that is) have trouble finding a mike.

    During the veiled voting fiasco, CBC was the only one I found to air the Muslim view -- that they did NOT seek veiled voting as 'reasonable accommodation'.

    You almost have to seek out the alternate view by visiting Muslim web sites, and such.
  29. Wanda Fyooka from Puerto Vallarta, Canada writes: At last, a climate where wearing the hijab makes sense!

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