Tuesday 06 Oct 2015 - 11:20 Makkah mean time-23-12-1436
Safira Merriman, a Toronto woman with French-Canadian roots who converted to Islam and now wears a niqab. Image from The Globe and Mail
Toronto, (IINA) - Reflecting a growing anti-Muslim sentiment in Canada amid ongoing identity & niqab debates, a second Muslim woman was attacked in a Toronto mall in front of her daughters, according to media reports.
The attack took place last week when 30-year-old Safira Merriman was trying to enter Shoppers Drug Mart at Toronto’s Fairview mall with her daughters, aged nine and four.
“It hurt, you,” Merriman, said in a Facebook post describing the incident, The Globe and Mail reported on Sunday.
“A lot of people don’t realize Islam is a religion that gives women the highest degree of respect. We are protected in so many different ways.”
The Muslim woman was describing her feelings after a man blocked her path and then drove his elbow hard into her shoulder.
In an interview, Merriman, who was born in Winnipeg and was primarily raised there, said she married a Muslim man and, three years ago, embraced the faith, donning a hijab. Her husband asked her not to wear a niqab, she said.
“My husband was adamant: ‘Don’t put it on, don’t put it on, don’t put it on.’” He was afraid she would become a target for abuse, she said, adding: “It’s a choice. No woman I’ve ever met who has the niqab on has been forced to put it on. They’ve all chosen to put it on out of respect for themselves. A lot of people don’t realize Islam is a religion that gives women the highest degree of respect. We are protected in so many different ways.”
In her message to the country, she said: “Don’t work on assumptions. Instead of jumping to the stereotype and attacking with words, attacking with your hands, attacking with your glares, ask. Because we’re more than happy to answer. We want you to ask.”
The 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.
Responding to the attack, Quebec’s National Assembly passed a unanimous resolution against Islamophobia.
The anti-Muslim attacks came amid heated debate about allowing women to take citizenship oath while wearing niqab.
Last 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.
“On social media, already we’ve seen a huge spike of what appears to be anti-Muslim sentiment being expressed,” Amira Elghawaby, a spokeswoman for the National Council of Canadian Muslims in Ottawa, said.
“This 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.”
While most Canadians are respectful, she added, the identity issue is “being used as a political football, and that has real ramifications for people’s sense of belonging and safety.”
On his part, University of Ottawa law professor Natasha Bakht said: "It’s 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.
“What’s happening with the niqab becoming this huge issue is unnecessary resentment.”
Though 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.
SM/IINA
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