Elham Asaad Buaras
Muslim community leaders in Canada have voiced their disappointment at an 8-year prison sentence handed to a terrorist, who attacked a mosque with an axe and planned mass casualties was sentenced on July 25.
Armed with an axe, Mohammad Moiz Omar, a self-proclaimed former Muslim turned atheist, entered the Dar Al-Tawheed Islamic Centre in Mississauga, Ontario, where about 30 worshippers were performing early morning prayers on March 19, 2022. He was apprehended before he could cause major harm to congregation members.
According to a court agreed statement of facts, Omar, 25, “intended to perpetrate a mass casualty event,” and he was inflamed with an intense hatred and desire to intimidate Muslims. He believed Islam is “an intolerant and violent religion.”
Omar, 25, pleaded guilty to three charges: administering a noxious substance with intent to inflict bodily harm, assault with a weapon, and vandalism to religious property. He also agreed that the attack was a terrorist act.
The Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC) ruled that Omar’s sentencing “is significantly higher than sentences usually received for the substantive offences because of the terrorism component.”
“This was a targeted attack on all the congregants of the Islamic Centre. The worshippers present at the time and on some of the values held dear by Canadians. Those values include freedom to gather and pray and freedom of religion,” said federal prosecutor Sarah Shaikh.
“The sentence reflects the seriousness of the offence and society’s condemnation for such attacks. It also takes into account the acknowledgment of guilt.” However, members of Canada’s Muslim community voiced disappointment at the sentence, saying that with credit for time already served in custody, Omar will be imprisoned for barely more than five years and that is not including his eligibility for parole in half that time.
The mosque’s Imam Ibrahim Hindy said the attack has left the community with long-lasting psychological pain.
He said the sentence does little to deter future violence against Muslims.“So many of our community members have struggled over the past year and a half … and there’s no sentence that’s going to bring us back to the time before these feelings of fear, hurt and loss existed,” Hindy said.
“This person was planning to kill people for no reason other than their faith. Someone planning a mass casualty event against innocent Canadians, who are peaceful, who are vulnerable, their backs are turned to him, they’re in prayer … deserves more than eight years.”
Congregants were able to wrestle Omar to the floor. No one was seriously injured, although one person was kicked in the stomach, and several were affected by the bear spray. Damage to the mosque was estimated at $16,000 (£9,400).
At the time of the attack Prime Minister Justin Trudeau put out a tweet condemning the assault as “incredibly disturbing”.
“I strongly condemn this violence – which has no place in Canada – and I’m keeping the community in my thoughts today,” Trudeau wrote.
Other public figures joined in the chorus of condemnation, including the mayor of Toronto and the Ontario provincial prime minister.
Premier Doug Ford, meanwhile, said on Twitter, “There is NO place in our province for such evil and hateful acts. We must ensure those responsible are brought to justice. ″
In 2017, a gunman killed six Muslim men as they prayed at a mosque in Quebec City, sending shock waves across the country and pushing the problem to the fore.
A mosque caretaker was also killed in the Toronto area in 2020, while in June 2021, four members of a Muslim family were killed – and a fifth family member, a young boy, was seriously injured – when a man hit them with his truck in London, Ontario.
The latter attack prompted Trudeau’s government to hold a national summit on Islamophobia, and in January of this year, Canada appointed its first special representative on combatting Islamophobia.
“Diversity truly is one of Canada’s greatest strengths, but for many Muslims, Islamophobia is all too familiar,” Trudeau said in a statement welcoming the new envoy, Amira Elghawaby, to her post.
