An Islamic preacher who was banned from Britain earlier this year has now been barred from entering Canada for a planned countrywide speaking tour.<\/p>\n
The preacher, Sheik Uthman ibn Farooq, was prohibited from entering the U.K. by the British government in May after it was reported he had said it would be permitted under Islamic law to have sex with females taken as captives in war.<\/p>\n
Mr. Farooq was due to carry out a Canadian tour this month, with events in Toronto on Friday and Hamilton on Saturday, as well as appearances in Winnipeg, Calgary and Halifax.<\/p>\n
But Penny Appeal Canada, the organizer of the speaking engagements, posted an update on a ticketing website, saying that \u201cShaykh Uthman was denied entry into Canada\u201d but would be joining virtually, describing the development as \u201can unexpected turn of events.\u201d <\/p>\n
The sheik posted a video on social media about his ban from entering Canada for the speaking tour, calling it an Islamophobic attempt to stop the truth.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t preach hate,\u201d he said, adding that the aim of his lectures would have been \u201cspiritual awakening\u201d and making young people productive citizens of Canada. He was barred from entering the country, according to immigration paperwork he tore up on camera, on grounds of involvement in a criminal organization.<\/p>\n
Opinion: Canada needs to pass its anti-hate legislation. But that will just be the first step<\/a><\/p>\n He said, however, that he had no criminal record and was not a member of a criminal organization. He said he had been involved in gangs as a 12-year-old, but not as an adult. <\/p>\n The office of Immigration Minister Lena Diab declined to comment, saying it did not discuss individual cases. <\/p>\n Jeffrey MacDonald, spokesman for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, said in an e-mail: \u201cEntry to Canada may be refused for a number of reasons, including concerns related to security, human or international rights violations, or criminal activity.\u201d<\/p>\n On Monday, Bloc Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois MP Christine Normandin asked the government in the House of Commons to stop Mr. Farooq\u2019s speaking tour from taking place in Canada, saying he had made homophobic, antisemitic and misogynistic remarks.<\/p>\n L\u2019Universit\u00e9 du Qu\u00e9bec \u00e0 Montr\u00e9al (UQAM) cancelled a planned student-run event with the preacher on Thursday. <\/p>\n \u201cThe event, which violated UQAM\u2019s values, was not authorized by our university. Consequently, it has been cancelled,\u201d spokesperson Jenny Desrochers said. <\/p>\n The sheik was outlawed from entering Britain by the U.K. government after The Daily Telegraph reported on his remarks about female slaves.<\/p>\n In a YouTube video, Mr. Farooq, who is based in California, was asked why \u201cintimacy\u201d with a slave was lawful and not considered adulterous, when it would be adulterous with a non-slave.<\/p>\n Mr. Farooq replied: \u201cAllah made [it] that those people taken under a war as captives, who were trying to kill you, [whom] you\u2019re now going to support and keep in your house and spend [money] on and treat well, that [they are] like a wife.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is somebody who you can have those relationships with. So if Allah made it halal [lawful], then it\u2019s not sinning, that is not adultery because Allah made it.\u201d<\/p>\n In the Commons this week, Bloc Leader Yves-Fran\u00e7ois Blanchet welcomed a decision by UQAM to cancel the planned event with the preacher. But he said Mr. Farooq would still be able to \u201cfoment hatred legally in Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201dWhy will he be able to do that? Because he legally has the right to do so,\u201d Mr. Blanchet said. \u201cWill the government eliminate the religious exemption from the Criminal Code?\u201d <\/p>\n Mr. Blanchet said his party plans to table an amendment to the government\u2019s Combatting Hate bill<\/a> to stop religion from being used as a defence for hate speech. <\/p>\n