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Filed: Other Country: Germany
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John Turley-Ewart: Sharia by stealth — Ontario turns a blind eye to polygamy

It’s an issue the Liberal govenrment of Ontario, led by Premier Dalton McGuinty, doesn’t want to deal with — polygamy in the Muslim community. Last week the Toronto Star told the story of Safa Rigby, a 35-year-old mother of five children who recently learned her husband of 14 years had two other wives. Ms. Rigby’s life is in tatters. She followed her husband’s advice that she leave Toronto and live in Egypt for a year on the grounds that it would be better for their children to spend more time in a Muslim country. Now she knows it was a ruse. He used her time there to marry two other women.

Ms. Rigby does not support polygamy, which has been illegal in Canada for more than a century. But Toronto Imam Aly Hindy, who runs the Toronto Salahuddin Islamic Centre, does. He married Ms. Rigby’s husband knowing he already had a wife and counselled him to keep the marriage secret from Ms. Rigby for as long as possible. Hindy has by his own admission performed 30 ceremonies in which men were married who already had wives. When Ms. Rigby confronted Hindy his response was reportedly cold and unsympathetic: “You will have to stand beside him in these difficult times,” Hindy told her. “You should stop causing problems to (sic) him. You will not get anything by divorce except destroying your life” he went on to say.

For Hindy this is not about Ms. Rigby or her husband’s desire to marry another woman — but making a broader political point.

Hindy is using polygamy as a proxy for his fundamentalist version of Islam, something he wants to see legitimized in Canadian society as a whole. It is part of an attempt at empire building, a bid that if successful will enhance his influence within the Muslim and demonstrate that Ontario and Canada is too ignorant and too afraid of Islam to uphold its own laws. He has admitted as much, challenging Ontario’s government to dare stop him. “If the laws of the country conflict with Islamic law, if one goes against the other, then I am going to follow Islamic law, simple as that,” he told the Star. Interviewed after the Star story appeared on the John Oakley Show on AM 640Toronto, Hindy was not apologetic and argued that freedom of religion in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms trumped prohibitions against polygamous marriages.

When he and another Imam from Toronto, Steve Rockwell, were challenged on the appropriateness of polygamy by a Muslim caller to the Oakley Show, the caller was immediately attacked and his identity as a true Muslim questioned because he did not follow Hindy’s view that polygamy is a foundational pillar of Islam that grows out of Sharia Law. This speaks to a troubling absolutist interpretation of Islamic law, which runs against the reality that Sharia law is much more flexible that Hindy allows for, a fact well documented by Anver Emon, a specialist in Islamic law at the University of Toronto. Moreover, as noted in the Star article on Ms. Rigby, there is grave doubt that the Charter protects Islamic polygamy, as Hindy believes. Nik Bala, who teaches family law at Queen’s University, points out that “Islam permits polygamy, but doesn’t require it to be a practising Muslim.” This is key, and likely means Hindy’s attempt to find shelter behind the Charter will fail.

But there is little chance at the moment that this will become a Charter issue down the road. Dalton McGuinty’s government has responded to the revelations about polygamy in the Muslim community by denying its existence. On Wednesday Liberal MPP Ted McMeekin responded to a question on the issue in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario saying:

“Polygamy is a serious crime in Ontario . It’s not something that’s tolerated. As you know, the best advice I can give the honourable member opposite is that if she has any evidence that someone is engaging in multiple marriages, she should report it, because our Registrar General and our official reporting mechanisms have no evidence that that’s happening.

As you know, Mr. Speaker, marriage is a contract. A contract require a licence, and once a marriage occurs, it has to be registered. There are no multiple marriages being registered in the province of Ontario.”

In essence, Ontario’s government is turning a blind eye to the practice as long as imams like Hindy do not attempt to register the marriages under Ontario law. This is giving licence to Hindy’s version of Islam. It is Sharia by stealth.

In 2005 Premier McGuinty ruled out Sharia family courts, conceding that Muslim women may well fair poorly if such a system was allowed to be established. The same concern exists today, yet Ontario’s Liberals sit on their hands. Muslim women like Ms. Rigby are being victimized as are her children, who now must face a future living in a broken home and likely in very hard financial circumstances. Imam Hindy has told her and her kids to put up with her husband’s desire for other wives. She has properly said no and has now obtained a divorce. When will Premier McGuinty’s government say no and make clear to Imam Hindy that sanctioning polygamy under the guise of Islam is simply unacceptable?

jturley-ewart@nationalpost.com

Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Brazil
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Posted
Polygamy should be legal anyway.

If consenting adults wish to form multiple-partner unions, who are we to say their lifestyle choice is unacceptable?

agreed

* ~ * Charles * ~ *
 

I carry a gun because a cop is too heavy.

 

USE THE REPORT BUTTON INSTEAD OF MESSAGING A MODERATOR!

Posted

I dont have issues with multiple wives. But to apply for welfare cuz the 50 kids they have are eating you out of house and home is an issue.

"I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine."- Ayn Rand

“Your freedom to be you includes my freedom to be free from you.”

― Andrew Wilkow

Filed: Country: England
Timeline
Posted
Polygamy should be legal anyway.

If consenting adults wish to form multiple-partner unions, who are we to say their lifestyle choice is unacceptable?

agreed

:huh: dealing with ONE messy hubster does me head in... LOL

Co-Founder of VJ Fluffy Kitty Posse -
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Posted

i with brother arijit...have as many as your can afford and handle....

Peace to All creatures great and small............................................

But when we turn to the Hebrew literature, we do not find such jokes about the donkey. Rather the animal is known for its strength and its loyalty to its master (Genesis 49:14; Numbers 22:30).

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Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Brazil
Timeline
Posted
Polygamy should be legal anyway.

If consenting adults wish to form multiple-partner unions, who are we to say their lifestyle choice is unacceptable?

agreed

:huh: dealing with ONE messy hubster does me head in... LOL

i don't think it would be your head that's done in :lol:

* ~ * Charles * ~ *
 

I carry a gun because a cop is too heavy.

 

USE THE REPORT BUTTON INSTEAD OF MESSAGING A MODERATOR!

Filed: Country: England
Timeline
Posted
Polygamy should be legal anyway.

If consenting adults wish to form multiple-partner unions, who are we to say their lifestyle choice is unacceptable?

agreed

:huh: dealing with ONE messy hubster does me head in... LOL

i don't think it would be your head that's done in :lol:

:o:blush:

Co-Founder of VJ Fluffy Kitty Posse -
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31 Dec 2003 MARRIED
26 Jan 2004 Filed I130; 23 May 2005 Received Visa
30 Jun 2005 Arrived at Chicago POE
02 Apr 2007 Filed I751; 22 May 2008 Received 10-yr green card
14 Jul 2012 Citizenship Oath Ceremony

Filed: Country: Libya
Timeline
Posted
I dont have issues with multiple wives. But to apply for welfare cuz the 50 kids they have are eating you out of house and home is an issue.

If we're talking about Islamic law here, that's not allowed. A man isn't allowed to marry a wife he's not capable of supporting, unless she gives up her right of maintenance for the marriage.

If we're talking about secular law, I agree with you and if the marriages were allowed to be registered, they wouldn't be able to get on welfare so easily.

Muslimwoman-1-1.jpg

99GEAq-6owA

We need a Ramadan!! (part one)

VP's Blog

Filed: Country: Libya
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Posted

He should have talked to his wife about it if he felt the need to marry another wife.... I wonder how long she was gone that he had time to marry two! Anyway, as long as they're not registering the marriages with the govt, they're not breaking any laws. There's no laws preventing ppl from having civil ceremonies and living with as many ppl as they please, without a marriage license from the courthouse. Unmarried couples shack up every day in the west ;)

Muslimwoman-1-1.jpg

99GEAq-6owA

We need a Ramadan!! (part one)

VP's Blog

Filed: Country: Libya
Timeline
Posted
I'd only allow polygamy if polyandry is allowed as well. What if I want 5 husbands? :devil:

Polygamy includes polyandry... you're thinking of polygony that's restrictive of men alone having multiple spouses. Polygamy is the general term to mean multiple spouses, regardless of gender.

Muslimwoman-1-1.jpg

99GEAq-6owA

We need a Ramadan!! (part one)

VP's Blog

Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Brazil
Timeline
Posted
I'd only allow polygamy if polyandry is allowed as well. What if I want 5 husbands? :devil:

i think you may be short about 2 holes for that :lol:

* ~ * Charles * ~ *
 

I carry a gun because a cop is too heavy.

 

USE THE REPORT BUTTON INSTEAD OF MESSAGING A MODERATOR!

 

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