Three Red Deer Muslim women troubled by teacher’s dismissal in Quebec

“It’s not a good feeling. Just because she is different, she must face this, and now it’s affecting many people in the Muslim community. What worries me also is other people who live there, such as Sikhs and Jews,” says Khan, who wears a niqab.

“I know this was in Quebec, but it’s still Canada. We are all Canadian, so it doesn’t matter if this happened in Quebec or Alberta.”

A Pre-Health Sciences student at Red Deer Polytechnic, Khan says it isn’t right that someone who wishes to pursue a profession out of love must choose between it and their religion.

She believes situations like these empower folks elsewhere to be more blatantly discriminatory.

On a walk earlier this year, Khan shares, she was berated by people in a passing vehicle for no other discernible reason than the niqab she wore.

“This niqab is how I feel protected, respected, and it’s who I am. I’d rather be seen like this than any other way,” she says. “I don’t wear it to influence or change anyone, I wear it for me; and I hope to be accepted, not seen as a danger.”

The biggest misconception, she adds, is that it’s forced upon Muslim women.

“It’s completely my own choice,” she says, praising support for the Quebec teacher shown by students and parents there.

Amina Noor, a Black Muslim woman, has called Red Deer home since 2007. Noor wears a niqab now, but has used some form of covering since she was seven.

“Two years after I arrived in Canada, a guy at a store tried to rip off my and my friend’s hijabs. The employees of the store quickly came to our rescue and tried to phone the police. The man later apologized,” she recalls. “The niqab represents a lot to me as it is part of my religious belief and culture as well, so I am very saddened to learn about what happened in Quebec.”

Noor admits she likely hasn’t been targeted as much as other women. However, several attacks on Muslim women, in particular against those who are Black, have occurred at an alarming rate in Edmonton, and are well-documented by media.

Sadia Khan, co-founder of Red Deer-based non-profit, Ubuntu-Mobilizing Central Alberta says women are used to being told what they can and can’t do.

“It’s about damn time that no one tells us what we can and can’t do, or wear,” says Khan, who chooses to don religious headwear only while in a Mosque. “If other people are uncomfortable with it, that’s their issue, not mine. The fight and struggle are still here, even today.”

On the subject of human rights, Khan adds that it cannot be only one day this gets discussed.

“It needs to be every single day, and it can’t apply to just women who wear a hijab. It’s about people who exist in all of our circles,” she says. “To talk about human rights once a year is not enough.”

The United Nations Human Rights Day 2021 slogan is ‘All Human, All Equal,’ Khan notes.

In 2022, Ubuntu has planned events and programming focusing on solutions to these kinds of ongoing problems.

In the wake of the Quebec news, meantime, federal leaders have spoken too — Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole saying he’s personally against Bill 21, but supports Quebec’s right to decide.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office told media he hasn’t closed the door on legal action, while NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, who wears a turban, told reporters he understands the feeling of being discriminated against for wearing religious attire.

Others, such as Ontario Conservative MP Kyle Seeback, tweeted, calling the law, “an absolute disgrace.”

The secularism law is currently being challenged by several groups, including a suite of four combined lawsuits which say the law discriminates against religious minorities, particularly Muslim women.

READ MORE: Racism in Red Deer

by Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

Three Red Deer Muslim women troubled by teacher’s dismissal in Quebec

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