Thread by @IngridMattson

A few words about the granting of asylum to Saudi citizen #Rahaf in #Canada I am proud that my country is consistent in standing up for religious freedom. That means the freedom to embrace any religion or to reject any religion.

Much is being made of #Rahaf's rejection of Saudi dress laws and the religion of her family, #Islam. A reminder that Saudi is not the leader of Muslims in interpreting what is or is not 'Islamic'. SA is also not the 'birthplace of Islam'. SA is a nation less than a century old.

Many modern Muslim scholars have demonstrated that pre-modern imperial & fundamentalist conflations between religious & political identity are not in accordance with the fundamental principles of the Quran & the Sunnah. People have the freedom to accept or reject Islam. #Rahaf

Here are scholarly sources demonstrating that religious apostasy must be distinguished from political & military treason and that #Islam upholds freedom of, and freedom from, religion: goodreads.com/book/show/1815… #Rahaf

More on freedom of religion in #Islam: goodreads.com/book/show/1067… #Rahaf

More on freedom of religion in #Islam: islamicity.org/2845/apostasy-… #Rahaf #Canada

As for the issue of 'allowing' Muslim women to uncover or cover in particular ways, more jurisdictions force women to remove their clothes than force women to wear more clothes. Go to Morocco, Indonesia, Jordan, Indonesia etc. - women wearing all sorts of dress. #Rahaf

Proud that women in #Canada, with the exception of Quebec, are free to wear what they wish, with a minimal prohibition on public nudity that is seldom enforced. #Rahaf

#Canada has welcomed thousands of religious #Muslims as refugees in the last few years and has welcomed those persecuted by Muslim militants, such as the #Yazidis, LGBTQ people and those who have rejected Islam. This is a sound application of the freedom of conscience. #Rahaf

The Muslim community is more threatened by those who use #Islam for political oppression, misogyny and hatred, than by states upholding the freedom of religion and conscience. #Rahaf #Canada