Hell and damnation!

Local, that is, Toronto-area imams apparently will not pray for Benazir Bhutto because she wasn’t radical enough.

By Tarek Fatah and Salma Siddiqui, National Post

Ms. Bhutto had not yet received a proper burial before the attacks on her character started appearing. The vice-president of the Canadian Arab Federation circulated an article lambasting Ms. Bhutto, mocking her as stooge of the West. It did not end at that level. Haroon Siddiqui of the Toronto Star dedicated an entire column to attacking Ms. Bhutto’s legacy and labelling her as corrupt and, God forbid the thought, pro-West. As if her being pro-Western was somehow anti-Canadian.

If attempts by Islamic writers to disparage Benazir Bhutto were distasteful, the conspicuous silence of Canada’s Islamic organizations was equally disturbing….

At one Mississauga mosque where supporters of Ms. Bhutto had requested a prayer for their departed leader, the imam refused to utter her name from the pulpit. A few kilometres away in one of Canada’s largest mosques run by the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), Skeikh Ala ElSayed refused to utter the words “Benazir Bhutto” from the pulpit, as if it was a profanity….

In another twist, the mosque hosting the prayer event to commemorate Benazir Bhutto missed the point altogether. Instead of honouring the women who came to attend the prayer event as a mark of respect for Benazir Bhutto, they were told they would not be permitted to enter the prayer area from the main entrance. All women were asked to take the rear staircase.