Kusoyaro
12-15-2007, 10:44 AM
http://www.thestar.com/article/285589
Teen's slaying sparks 'honour killing' debate
TORONTO STAR
Dec 14, 2007 04:30 AM
Jim Wilkes
Isabel Teotonio
Slain schoolgirl Aqsa Parvez will be buried tomorrow after a funeral service expected to draw more than 1,000 family members, friends and others touched by her death.
The 16-year-old Mississauga girl died Monday after she was strangled in her Longhorn Trail home after quarrelling with family for months over her desire to shed the hijab, the traditional Muslim headscarf. Her father faces a murder charge. An older brother, accused of obstructing the police investigation, faces a bail hearing in Brampton today.
The teen's death has struck a chord with many. It has garnered international headlines, sparked editorials and ignited a firestorm of debate, particularly in cyberspace where Parvez's death has become a springboard for wider discussions on issues such as the hijab, Islam, "honour killings" and misogyny.
On Facebook, at least 11 groups have surfaced in response, with more than 5,000 members, some ranting, some pontificating and others spewing racial epithets.
On YouTube, at least 11 videos, viewed in total more than 16,000 times, have been posted. One website, somalinet.com, published a story on Parvez's death and included a poll about whether the father was justified in the alleged killing. As of last night, five of the 19 who responded agreed.
At the Islamic Centre of Canada mosque yesterday, Muslim leaders defended their faith and said acts of violence are not advocated by Islam or the scriptures of the Qur'an.
Dr. Iqbal Nadvi, spiritual leader of Oakville's Al-Falah Islamic Centre mosque, said parents fail and bring shame upon themselves if a child chooses to abandon holy writings and not wear the hijab.
"It is their duty to convince their kids that this part of their culture," he said. However, he said Muslims "categorically" denounce acts of murder. "This is not allowed in Islam, totally."
Shaila Kibria, who works on human rights issues within the local Muslim community, believes Parvez's reported refusal to wear a hijab, which some regard as symbolic of Islamic oppression toward women, has been key.
"It's so controversial because there are so many interpretations about whether the hijab is a requirement in Islam," said the 32-year-old who chooses to wear the hijab. "But the hijab and religion are not the real issues. What this poor girl went through, which is domestic violence and violence against women, isn't being recognized; what's being recognized is the hijab."
If the discussion remains centred on the issue of the hijab, Kibria said she fears Muslim men won't take responsibility for the "extremist religious patriarchy" that exists within their community.
It was the issue of the hijab that made the story so compelling, said Pierre Taillefer of Agence France-Presse, noting a law in France that forbids the veil in public schools. Funeral service begins at 1:30 p.m. tomorrow at the Islamic Centre of Canada mosque in Mississauga.
I'm sure most of you have already heard about this, I just wanted to know what you all thought.
As for myself, I met Asqa through my girlfriends' sister a few times, she didn't deserve this shit. It's difficult not to be caught up in the desire for placing blame, and to see into the heart of the matter, but this is how I see it; her father was an immigrant who kept a tighter hold on his children, particularly his daughter, because he was worried about how his values would not take to his children. His son (who seemed pretty nice but) would always do whatever his father said - which wasn't always a good thing, but Aqsa, obviously, was raised in an environment where religion wasn't as important to her, as her faith was rooted in a multifaith, multicultural paradigm, whereas her father and mothers' stemmed from a hegemony, a society where everyone was the same and therefore had more to lose if one was different.
Knowing the motives won't change shit, it is making me angry that people like her father exist, but at the same time, to make sure this doesn't happen again, the actual cause has to be determined and rooted out.
Sadly, I understand how the world works, and this will never happen in my lifetime.
Teen's slaying sparks 'honour killing' debate
TORONTO STAR
Dec 14, 2007 04:30 AM
Jim Wilkes
Isabel Teotonio
Slain schoolgirl Aqsa Parvez will be buried tomorrow after a funeral service expected to draw more than 1,000 family members, friends and others touched by her death.
The 16-year-old Mississauga girl died Monday after she was strangled in her Longhorn Trail home after quarrelling with family for months over her desire to shed the hijab, the traditional Muslim headscarf. Her father faces a murder charge. An older brother, accused of obstructing the police investigation, faces a bail hearing in Brampton today.
The teen's death has struck a chord with many. It has garnered international headlines, sparked editorials and ignited a firestorm of debate, particularly in cyberspace where Parvez's death has become a springboard for wider discussions on issues such as the hijab, Islam, "honour killings" and misogyny.
On Facebook, at least 11 groups have surfaced in response, with more than 5,000 members, some ranting, some pontificating and others spewing racial epithets.
On YouTube, at least 11 videos, viewed in total more than 16,000 times, have been posted. One website, somalinet.com, published a story on Parvez's death and included a poll about whether the father was justified in the alleged killing. As of last night, five of the 19 who responded agreed.
At the Islamic Centre of Canada mosque yesterday, Muslim leaders defended their faith and said acts of violence are not advocated by Islam or the scriptures of the Qur'an.
Dr. Iqbal Nadvi, spiritual leader of Oakville's Al-Falah Islamic Centre mosque, said parents fail and bring shame upon themselves if a child chooses to abandon holy writings and not wear the hijab.
"It is their duty to convince their kids that this part of their culture," he said. However, he said Muslims "categorically" denounce acts of murder. "This is not allowed in Islam, totally."
Shaila Kibria, who works on human rights issues within the local Muslim community, believes Parvez's reported refusal to wear a hijab, which some regard as symbolic of Islamic oppression toward women, has been key.
"It's so controversial because there are so many interpretations about whether the hijab is a requirement in Islam," said the 32-year-old who chooses to wear the hijab. "But the hijab and religion are not the real issues. What this poor girl went through, which is domestic violence and violence against women, isn't being recognized; what's being recognized is the hijab."
If the discussion remains centred on the issue of the hijab, Kibria said she fears Muslim men won't take responsibility for the "extremist religious patriarchy" that exists within their community.
It was the issue of the hijab that made the story so compelling, said Pierre Taillefer of Agence France-Presse, noting a law in France that forbids the veil in public schools. Funeral service begins at 1:30 p.m. tomorrow at the Islamic Centre of Canada mosque in Mississauga.
I'm sure most of you have already heard about this, I just wanted to know what you all thought.
As for myself, I met Asqa through my girlfriends' sister a few times, she didn't deserve this shit. It's difficult not to be caught up in the desire for placing blame, and to see into the heart of the matter, but this is how I see it; her father was an immigrant who kept a tighter hold on his children, particularly his daughter, because he was worried about how his values would not take to his children. His son (who seemed pretty nice but) would always do whatever his father said - which wasn't always a good thing, but Aqsa, obviously, was raised in an environment where religion wasn't as important to her, as her faith was rooted in a multifaith, multicultural paradigm, whereas her father and mothers' stemmed from a hegemony, a society where everyone was the same and therefore had more to lose if one was different.
Knowing the motives won't change shit, it is making me angry that people like her father exist, but at the same time, to make sure this doesn't happen again, the actual cause has to be determined and rooted out.
Sadly, I understand how the world works, and this will never happen in my lifetime.