Dr. and Imam Mustafa Khattab is the Imam of the Anatolia Islamic Centre and a senior member of the Canadian Council of Imams.
In recent years you have made the following statements on LGBTQ:
- “Members from the LGBT community… have always been welcome at my mosque for years for open houses and observation.”
- “We believe that sexuality is a private thing… Whatever a person does in his bedroom it’s his own business… A person is a straight or a LGBT, they can do whatever they want… God is their judge and He will judge them in the end.”
- “My apology for the uninformed and immature comment” (referring to your statement from 2012: “So for me somebody who is homosexual is like somebody who has diabetes, or cancer, or AIDS. He has a special case and this person needs a special treatment. Can I talk to them? Why not? Just like I talk to everybody, okay. Personally I don’t like to be associated with them.”)
- “I have come to terms with and apologized for misinformed and insensitive comments I made about members of the LGBTQ2S community in 2012. Since that time, I have made concerted and humble efforts to learn more about my unconscious biases and unlearn the incorrect beliefs I had towards individuals who are different from me in the near past. I have connected with LGBTQ2S people who have graciously been willing to spend time learning from one another about life, culture and faith.”
I’ve sent the a media inquiry to Mustafa Khattab and the Canadian Council of Imams:
- Do your statements on LGBTQ go in line with the the Sharia Law and the position of the Canadian Council of Imams on this matter?
- Abdullah Hakim Quick, a Director at the Canadian Council of Imams stated in 2010: “So they said, ‘What is the position of Islam on homosexuality?’ They asked me this, a newspaper, right? So I said, put my name in the paper. The position is death.” He later stated: “Many years ago I made hurtful comments against homosexuals for which I have apologized. My views have evolved over the years. I am fully committed to peaceful coexistence and respect among all people.” Has the hadd (prescribed punishment of execution) for commuting the sin of homosexuality been repealed?
- Does Islam accept members of the LGBTQ community as equal members of the Muslim community, including respecting their right to pray in any mosque and become Imams?
- An article on this issue will be published soon, so it would be great if you could respond by 11am November 16, 2020. If more time is required please let me know. Thanks!
As of November 16, 2020 both Mustafa Khattab and the Canadian Council of Imams have not responded to the media inquiry.
Similar statements have also been heard from other figures within the Salafist camp in Canada. They slam Trudeau for the “hostile” treatment of Muslims by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) that try to promote reforms among the Muslim community in Canada. Trudeau is also criticized for supporting tyrannical regimes in Muslim countries, sending forces to areas of conflict in the Middle East, and promoting a secular-liberal platform that destroys Muslim families. Salafist activists also expressed their disappointment with a senior Canadian imam who equated Trudeau with al-Najashi, a Christian king of Abyssinia who gave refuge to the companions of Mohammed and converted to Islam at the end of his life. According to the Salafists, Trudeau is not the savior of the Muslims, but rather embodies a dangerous threat to the Islamic values of the Canadian Muslim community.