Top Canadian “Interfaith” Imam Advocates Sharia Law

The Islamists’ interfaith/P.R. campaign isn’t limited to only the U.S. In Canada, one of the faces of interfaith relations is Sheikh Faisal Hamid Abdur-Razak, an imam who used to have a position on the national government’s Interfaith Committee and other official bodies. And this “moderate” imam can be seen on video advocating Sharia law, specifically its doctrine on stoning.

“Even in Islamic Sharia the act of stoning is also done to reject certain evil actions, evil deeds. If someone commits certain crimes in Islam, and he is found guilty by an Islamic court, one of the punishments is stoning to death, signifying our rejection of evil actions as well,” Abdur-Razak said.

He continued, “This act of stoning now is also purification for the believer.”

Abdur-Razak is not a fringe cleric. He is the imam of the Islamic Forum of Canada and Vice President of the Islamic Council of Imams of Canada. He’s also led Canadian mosques like the Islamic Society of Peel, the Islamic Center of Brampton and the Toronto And Region Islamic Center.

According to the organization’s website, Abdur-Razak “served on the Government of Canada Interfaith Committee, the Province of Ontario Multifaith Council, and the City of Brampton Multifaith Committee.”

His bio shows he has had Muslim Brotherhood indoctrination. It lists Sheikh Muhammad Qutb, the brother of Brotherhood theologian Sayyid Qutb, as one of his teachers in Saudi Arabia. Osama Bin Laden was another one of Muhammad Qutb’s students. Abdur-Razak left for Canada in 1986 and now lives in Brampton.

Abdur-Razak and other Canadian Islamists are taking a cue from the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood. In a secret U.S. Brotherhood memo from 1991, the apparatus is instructed to “possess a mastery of the art of ‘coalitions,’ the art of ‘absorption’ and the principles of ‘cooperation.’”

It is emphasized over and over that the Islamists must establish a wide range of organizations that can partner with non-Muslim groups. Their end goal, as stated in the memo, is “eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within…by their hands and the hands of the unbelievers.” [emphasis mine]

Just as the Muslim Brotherhood points to Al-Qaeda and hardline Salafists as proof that it is comparatively moderate, Abdur-Razak positions himself in the middle by pointing to worse extremists. Abdur-Razak is fiercely critical of the Salafist brand of Islam, warning of its violent tendencies and comparing it to “a poison” and “brainwashing.”

“…protect your Islam by removing yourself from any involvement in any Salafi group. The worst threat that the Muslim Ummah [nation] is facing today is the Salafis. Not the non-Muslims, the Salafis,” he has preached.

The most successful Islamist group at interfaith influence in the U.S. is the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), a U.S. Muslim Brotherhood entity. It also has a Canadian branch named ISNA-CAN, but the main ISNA headquarters is downplaying their common bonds since ISNA Canada lost its non-profit status because of its funding of Pakistani groups linked to terrorists and filing discrepancies.

ISNA-CAN sent almost $300,000 to the Pakistan-based Relief Organization for Kashmiri Muslims, a group linked to the Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist group. At least $535,000 was sent from ISNA-CAN to unapproved groups and more than half of that amount went to foreign entities.

The Toronto Star reported that manipulated photos were given to auditors to cover up a “host of other problems … including missing documentation, misleading financial reports and sending donations abroad to unapproved groups.” ISNA-CAN also “appears to have engaged in a third-party receipting scheme.”

ISNA-CAN’s listed affiliates include the Islamic Schools Association of Canada, Muslim Students Association, the Muslim Youth of North America, the Islamic Centre of Canada, the Canadian Islamic Trust Corporation, the ISNA Development Foundation, ISNA Housing Cooperative, ISNA Halal Certification Agency, ISNA IDB Education Trust and the ISNA Islamic Services of Canada—Jami Mosque and Book Service.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), another U.S. Muslim Brotherhood entity engaged in building interfaith political alliances, also has a presence in Canada (CAIR-CAN). As the Clarion Project noted, one of CAIR-CAN’s board members is Jamal Badawi, a known Muslim Brotherhood ideologue that supports Hamas.

The Canadian branch recently changed its name to the National Council of Canadian Muslims to disguise this link. CAIR-CAN says it never had any “operating” relationship with CAIR because it is registered independently—but that’s the case with every CAIR chapter.

In 1993, one of CAIR’s founders spoke at a secret Brotherhood/Hamas meeting in Philadelphia. He explained, “Registering an organization is easy. I can register 100 organizations in 100 cities in one day.”

This is just one part of the Islamist apparatus in Canada. In 2010, a Canadian intelligence report warned that non-violent Islamist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood and Hizb ut-Tahrir are trying to create “mini-societies” in the country.

“Some Islamists advocate isolationism and the establishment of a parallel society,” it says.

“Isolationism can lead to conditions where extreme messages can incubate and eventually become the catalyst for violence. At a minimum, isolationism undermines a multicultural and democratic society,” it warns.

Muslims are only 3.2% of the Canadian population, but Islam is the fastest growing religion with immigration from Pakistan being a major contributing factor. The Muslim share of the population will increase to 6.6% by 2030, or around 2.7 million. In comparison, Muslims will only be about 1.7% of the American population then.

Thankfully, there are Canadian Muslim groups that like the Muslim Canadian Congress, Progressive Muslims Institute Canada and the Council of Muslims Facing Tomorrow that are contesting the ideological future of the community.

Those are the proper interfaith partners, not supporters of Sharia and stoning who were educated by Muslim Brotherhood ideologues.

This article was sponsored by the Institute on Religion and Democracy.