Before I begin, I want to send my condolences to the family and friends of Aqsa Parvez, the young girl who was strangled to death by her father in Mississauga last week. There is no excuse for such kind of heinous and violent domestic abuse, and I sincerely hope that Muhammad Parvez is prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

That being said, I’d like to reiterate that the person on trial right now is Muhammad Parvez, and not every Muslim in Canada. If any major issues have been brought to light because of this incident, they should be the problems of domestic abuse and generational communication gaps, and not the problem with Islam.

I say this because the unfortunate death of Aqsa Parvez is not a “Muslim problem,” as many in the Canadian (and global) media seem to want to characterize the tragedy. But more on that later. First, and important point of clarification:

Canadian media need to stop referring to the hijab as “Islamic dress.”

The wearing of the hijab, contrary to popular belief, is not an Islamic tradition, but a cultural practice that was adopted after the Muslim empire spread into the Persian and Byzantine societies. I once took a class with renown Islamic scholar John Esposito, who was adamant in proclaiming the fact that the Qur’an does not require the veiling of women through either the burqa or the hijab, but instead only emphasizes modesty and humility in dress and conduct.

By characterizing the hijab as Islamic dress, the Canadian media is already guilty of generalization and unnecessary extrapolation. In essence, most types of clothing can not be attributed to religion, but instead have roots in a particular cultural context.

With that aside, I’d like to reiterate once again that the murder of Aqsa Parvez is not a Muslim problem.

Nowhere does Islam condone the senseless murder of a brother or sister in humanity. Nowhere does it condone the oppression of any segment of society — women, children, the elderly — in the name of religion. Instead, it preaches tolerance and understanding: after all, the final judgment of any human is reserved for God.

These concepts may be hard to believe for some, particularly in light of some of the actions and edicts that are receiving media attention in other parts of the world. What people need to realize is that these extremists — a faction of society that exists regardless of race or creed — are not acting in the name of Islam, but instead are using the name of Islam to justify their actions.

There are those that will be quick to dismiss by saying (and I’ve heard this countless times before) things like, “if Islam really isn’t like this, why aren’t more Muslims speaking out against it?” For those people, I’d like to let you know that the significant majority of Muslims are, indeed, doing what they can to stop these kinds of injustices. Sadly, the media isn’t always the quickest to pick up on the good: it doesn’t sell advertising.

The best way to reverse these preconceived notions about the religion, however, is not only by talking. Instead, it is important to portray the other side of the faith, the one that emphasizes compassion, pluralism, and a commitment to the wellbeing of humanity. Organizations like the Aga Khan Development Network do a good job of conveying this message of the building of civil society, and need to be recognized as key examples of the vision of Islam as “a thinking, spiritual faith, one that teaches compassion and tolerance and that upholds the dignity of man.”

Before I end this post, I’d like to point out an angle that seems to be ignored in Canadian media (which is still too engrossed in painting the Aqsa Parvez tragedy as a clash of faith) and that I mentioned in a comment on one particularly ignorant, misguided, and naively racist post on the subject:

What needs to be addressed, instead, is the growing cultural divide between immigrant parents and Canadian-raised children, regardless of faith or country of origin.

Perhaps once people stop the sensationalizing and get back to critical analysis, we can have an enlightened debate on that issue and really start trying to fix “the problem.”