Dear Editor,
In another reported incident of Islamic extremism, a Toronto newspaper on Tuesday says that a Canadian Muslim teenager was killed by her father over her refusal to wear a hijab, the traditional Muslim head cover. Radical Islamists are doing everything to bring bad publicity to their great religion. This bad advertisement on Islam has hit the front pages of world news coming right after Muslim extremist actions out of Sudan, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries.
A memorial for the Canadian girl, Aqsa Parvez, is set up at her high school near Toronto. The news report quoted some of her classmates as saying she wore traditional Muslim dress when leaving her house in the morning, but would change into other clothes in school washrooms.
The father, 57-year-old Muhammad Parvez, has been charged with murder and was remanded into custody. A police officer said the father called emergency 911 saying he had just killed his daughter. The girl’s brother, Waqas Parvez, 26, was also arrested and charged with obstructing police.
There is no reason to take such an extreme action to kill your own daughter for refusing to wear head gear. I asked a Guyanese Muslim Imam if a hijab is required, he said no but it is traditional for women to have head cover when praying in a mosque. Indeed, most Guyanese female Muslims do not wear head cover in New York but are seen with their head covered when entering the masjid or at a Koran Sharief (a prayer reading at someone’s home).
This issue brings back stories of the French government disallowing hijabs in schools. Some Muslim countries do not require females to wear hijabs. In Turkey, where I visited a few years ago, most women do not have head covers. Growing up in a traditional village in Guyana, I know of many females who move around without head cover. So it cannot be a requirement in the scripture. Muslim leaders need to address this whole issue of traditional garb; not wearing traditional garb or hijab does not make someone less Islamic. And death should not be the penalty for defiance of traditional clothing.
Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram
