So, my principle is never ever start a way with anybody.

If they are ignorant about my faith,

then I have to teach them by my action, by the way I behave, by the way I communicate and
that's important. So, whether it was in the private sector or in the public sector, or as my role
as an MP, I have been practising the principle of genorosity, tolerance and inclusiveness.
And that's something that the Muslims who without a walkburn start killing; like the Boko
Haram - do you call them Muslims? Do you call the Taliban Muslims? No. So, those are not
the Muslims. So, when we talk about Islamic principles, I, as a Muslim believer believe that
we - we, the Muslim majority - are too silent. We need to get together and ensure that the
media does not make hay of this nonsense. Islamic terrorism - what is Islamic terrorism? So,
that to me as a Muslim, was most offensive and I asked do you call Hindu terrorism or Sikh
terrorism or Jewish terrorism or Christian terrorism? Do you call the Ir a Christian terrorism?
No. So, don't call that Islamic terrorism, or a Islamic bomb, or whatever. So, that's my
frustration with the process and so when I was within parliament, I ensured we built capacity
and built alliance with people of other faiths to ensure that this doesn't happen. What people
forget who created the holocaust? Who committed the holocaust? That's something very
important. Who committed the holocaust? It was the Christian majority against the Jews. And
so I asked one of my Jewish friends. I said, "Have the Muslims ever committed a holocaust
against the Jews?" She said, "No!" So, I said, "So, why are we at loggerheads with each
other? What's wrong? Why is a Palestinian issue a Muslim issue? It's not a Muslim issue!
Sixty percent of Palestinians are Christians. What's going on here? Who's trying to sell
what?"

Q: Perfect. So, what challenges if any do you experience today and prior in your life?
A. I face no challenges. I say my prayers. There is the Salaat and then there is the Namaaz. I
incorporate both and I have never had any problems.

Q: Okay. How does your life change your environment and other things?
A. Ah! This is an interesting one! I think that most Muslims forget that the purpose of the fast
is to fast. Right? [Laughs] And fast from talking, fast from backbiting, fast from bad deeds.
And it's not that you should get up and eat food. If the focus is food, then you have forgotten
the basic premise of Ramadan.
Interview: That's true!
A: Right? The prophet did not focus - did you see the prophet eat like crazy? No! The prophet
fasted! And the purpose of Ramadan was he was in prayer for forty days till he received his
revelation. How many of us are doing that? How many of us are into contemplation? How
many of us the real, the spiritual meaning of Islam? We don't! Because we don't practise it.
We go to the materialistic aspect of Islam. We go to the exoteric aspect and we have
forgotten the essence of Islam. For me, food is not important. I practise beforehand, a month
beforehand, to cut down on my coffee or cut down on my tea because I know those are the
things I will need. So, if you start cutting down on it, and ensuring you go to bed early, so
that sleep is not...And that, your focus, your focus is not on food. I do not get up and eat. I
don't get up in the middle of the night to eat because I find that offensive. I find that the body
can easily be without food. So, one meal a day is fine and Ramadan allows me to experience
what the people who are suffering from hunger and poverty experience. And I have a better
sense of their needs and for that time I also do better charity.
Q: So now, .. various Muslim women exist. What challenges do you have in place to
overcome these barriers?
A: So, I was the first Muslim woman to run for Parliament. What were the areas? I ran
against a cabinet ministe. Were there barriers? I didn't...I don't consider anything a barrier. I
amvery confident of my abilities and am confident of the grace of Allah. And so, I didn't fight
it as a Muslim woman. I fought it as a Canadian citizen. And I fought it as a which was very
comfortable to the fifty two percent Caucasians. I don't have...I didn't have at that time
actually a very large Muslim population in my ... So, how do you get over it? So, they show
me as a base street woman who was going to ensure that she does the best she can for the
constituents. And I did! And everybody - I meet people in church and they told me you are
the most hardworking MP. So, I think as Muslims, if a Muslim woman wants to go into
Parliament and if she finds that for example, people will question you on your hijaab and
yourtemper. And they will associate you. The moment they see your hijab, they will associate
you as terrorist. And then you say, "Wait, a minute. How do you overcome it?" So, I didn't
say a hijaab - I never wore a hijaab. So, I didn't have that problem. But a Muslim who wears
that hijaab might have that problem. So how does she overcome it? And that's something you
make a principle decision. You say "Should I remove my hijaab?" But you say, "No, I don't
want to remove my hijaab. So, what do I do?" And so, what you do is you build your bridges
well before you are running an election. You have to get together with people. They have to
get to know you. If they don't know you - like if you didn't know...have you ever kept a pet?
A dog or a cat? No? So, if you don't keep them, you don't know what they are like as animals.
Right?
Interviewer: That's true!
A: And you don't know that God has sent them to us for us to understand from them. The first
time I could think of every time I think of a cat - I think of the prophet and the cat sitting on
his cloak. And instead of disturbing the cat, he cut his cloak off! How many of us would do
the same gentle things? Right? So, the prophet execised the same gentleness with every
person. He never raised his voice. I read a beautiful book about how Omar came and the
women ran away and the...and Omar said to the prophet, "Why did they run away?" The
prophet said, "Because you have too sharp a tongue. You should never get angry with
anybody. The women don't like you." The women used to seat with the prophet and have a
discourse with the prophet. How many of us can have this discourse? So, this whole concept
of women being marginalised, women being under foot is a challenge for all Muslim women.
And when you start wearing the hijaab, then it's a double challenge because that's the
perception the West has of you. Now, how do you overcome it? How do you sell them the
stories of what the prophet did? How? We don't have stories that we sell in the schools, do
we? Do we ever have talk of Islam being a religion of peace, tranquility, the prophet's
gentleness, how he treated women? That he had discourses with women, they were
intellectual discourses! Have we talks about it, do they? Do you learn that at your mosque?
No! So, this was interesting. I picked up a book which was written by an Imam. Which was
good. But you go out in out regions and you go and pick up wonderful stories from people.
So, I think as an [sic] Muslim woman, I didn't face the challenge. Because I was able to
overcome a lot of barriers by being well qualified, extremely competent and highly educated.
That gave me the strength and throughout the four elections that I stood, I didn't identify as a
Muslim. Now, there are people who will want to use that against you will identify you - That
she's only for the Muslims! That she's only for the browns! So, she's only for this. Because
that's racism! Now, that is racism, colonial minded racism! And who falls into that? The
one's that are propagating it are minorities themselves! Hmm?
Q: So, for the
A: I don't think any organisation should do anything about it. I think you as an individual,
who choose to identify, as a Muslim woman - do the Jewish women who wear the wigs self-
identify themselves as the Jewish woman? Nobody knows, right? Unless they wear the kirpa
and people know you are Jewish. Otherwise, they don't. The Punjabis who wear those head
cover as well. So, they run. But they run in areas that are very Punjabi. High populations of
Punjabis. So, should Muslims run in high populations of Muslims? Maybe, they should!
Maybe they should! There is a high concentration of Muslims in Pontlef Park. But they have
never seen a Muslim woman run. Why? Because the Muslims of Fontleaf are not that open-
minded. And they come from this perception that the men are the superior ones. Right? So,
what should a Muslim woman do who wears a hijaab? Wear the hijaab but when she is
outdoor knocking and there is someone , get rid of the question. Answer the question. They
get head-on. If you want to run and you want to wear the hijaab, do so. It's your right. No
one's going to - this is not Quebec, thank God! that chapter, what was it - values was
defeated. But this is, this is your right! You can wear it. I don't agree to the niqaab, but hey,
you can wear what yuu want!
Q:..
A: And it depends on the riding that you are in. If it's a all wight riding and you want to run in
Oakville, where it's a very wide ridding, or you want to run in rural Ontario, the strategies
that you want to do is built a lot off bridges. I'm quite impressed - there's an organisation
called I.D.I., the Intercultural Dialogue Institute. It's a Turkish organisation. And all the
Turkish women wear hijaabs. All of them wear hijaabs. But they have done so much outreach
with the police, the military, the civil society that, you know, nobody's worried about
anybody's hijaab. So, let's get a comfort zone. Let's do the same thing. Let's build a capacity
and say to people, " My wearing a headgear doesn't make me stupid or make me
downtrodden or make me anything. It's my choice. It's what I like. And maybe give a history
of why you wear the hijaab. Personally, I know what the history is but people have forgotten
it. The veil comes from the Omyaar time when they conquered Persia. And the Persian
women used to go beyond the veil because - the Persian women who were wealthy used to go
behind the veil. So, people have forgotten the history. Plus, the weather in Saudi and places
like that - you have to cover your whole self, otherwise the dust gets into your nose. That's
fine. So wear it. And it became cultural! And in culture, the men incorporated it as a part of
religion! No, it isn't! But if you want it, you can do it. Ask any Punjabi why do they cover
their hair. Punjabis women or Hindu women - don't they cover their sarees over their heads?
Why? They think it's a sign of respect. So, that's fine.
Q: Okay. So, again, if you were to give any advices to Muslim women, what would you tell
them?
A: I would tell them to educate themselves. To be proficient, totally proficient in the English
language. To read on their own faith, they have to read on their own faith. And to compare it
religious studies so that they are able to articulate their position vis-a-vis the other. We will
never ever get into a theological dialect or a dialogue. You can always talk about common
values. Do they the Jewish faith and the Muslim faith and the Christian faith, the Abrahamic
faiths have similar traditions?They do! Do they all believe in one God? Yes, they do. Do,
they believe in divine guidance? Yes, they do.