Full Niqab in Full Daylight

This is what I saw crossing the street while stopping at a red light in downtown Toronto. Well, the one I saw was all in black, which was even more frightening.

It was shocking. A small, squat woman, dressed from head-to-toe in this garb. I have never seen anyone come out dressed in full niqab, as it is called, in full daylight in the city.

It shows a tremendous amount of confidence for her to walk out like this, probably the only one in the streets.

But not for long. If one dares to come out like this, there must be hundreds others getting ready to do so. Slowly, like the less intrusive hijab, this full-length dress is being introduced into our landscape.

More Books for the School Children

October as Islamic History Month was created by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in 2007. It is still at its nascent stage, and we didn't hear advertisements about it months in advance as we do about Black History Month. But, it will only be a matter of time.

But what is equally perturbing is that Muslims are adamant on reaching school children. Two women for the University of Calgary's Faculty of Education have developed Islamic history books for grades 1-6. This was launched in time for last year's Islamic History Month. More books are in the works, especially for the grade 7-12 group.

Here is an article praising Muslim "scientists" those precursors to microchips and space travel by Mohamed Elmasry president of the Canadian Islamic Congress:

In some way, we all come in daily contact with microchips, space travel, medicine, physical sciences, mathematics, engineering, music, literature, arts, architecture, and spirituality. But do any of us , including contemporary Muslims themselves, fully realize how directly all of these advances and disciplines have been built upon more than a millennium of achievements by Muslim scientists, scholars, engineers and artists? Probably not.

It is high time for Islamic civilization to be rediscovered and celebrated by Muslims and non-Muslims alike, especially in the West. And it is equally important that we ignore all those who, for political reasons, have a longtime vested interest in dismissing or suppressing Islamic civilization, to the point where it has become scarcely known and not even a footnote on most school and university curricula.

Well, the reason why it is "not even a footnote on most school and university curricula" is because there is nothing to report.

I'm sure Rahat Naqvi and Sally Goddard have rectified that in their text books. We already know that schools are not much interested in teaching the truth.

"Borrowing" Logos

Although I have blogged about the appropriation of the title and locale of the CBC Muslim show "Little Mosque on the Prairie", I only recently found out that they also "borrowed" the logo for the TV credits.

There is nothing else to link these two shows except the superficialities. But, it is a big boost from Muslims in Canada (and the US, where "Little House on the Prairie" originates) to give the impression that they are like any other Canadian. Take the name, the region and even the design style of the original show to fool ordinary Canadians into thinking that "Muslims are just like us."

Similar to the Roger's Center (where the last Eid celebrations took place) which is being touted as the center for multicultural celebrations, the clever producers of "Little Mosque on the Prairie" are saying that looking like a quintessential Canadian show (yes, Laura Ingalls is part of any young Canadian's reading material) is enough to detract people away from the real intentions of Muslims, which is not to look like Laura Ingalls and her family at all, but to be clear and uncontested Muslims.

The TV show is testament to that strategy. Nothing in the show resembles the prairies of the Ingalls family.