February 3, 2012
Amid the often disturbing anti-Muslim sentiment generated by the Shafia murder trial and its guilty verdicts, dozens of imams (religious leaders) will gather at a mosque in Mississauga Ontario to issue a fatwa, spelling out that so-called honour killings and violence toward women have nothing to do with the real teachings of Islam.
The three-months-long Shafia trial recently culminated in a total of 12 first-degree murder convictions for Afghan-Canadian businessman Mohammad Shafia, his second wife Tooba Mohammad Yahya and the couple’s eldest son, Hamed. It was freighted with evidence suggesting the three killers murdered four of their relatives because they believed the family “honour” had been stained.
The fatwa will be released Saturday afternoon at the Jamia Riyadhul Jannah Mosque on Campobello Road, where more than 30 imams and muftis (Muslim priests) including a number from the United States, will endorse it.
