Kudos to the Star for Polygamy Exposé
I must give credit to the Toronto Star for continuing to push this story-line regarding the problem of polygamy in the Toronto Muslim community, and all the incipient harm that the practice is causing.
The case of Fouad Boutaya is particularly intriguing and somewhat tragic. It is tied into a previous report on the situation of Safa Rigby whose sad tale was revealed in the Star on May 24 . It was Safa’s story that encouraged Boutaya to disclose his own, because they are both the victims in the same case of polygamy.
To make a long story short, Safa Rigby married Hossny Ismail and they had 5 children. Meanwhile, Fouad Boutaya married a woman and had 2 children with her. Then Ismail and Boutaya’s wife decided to get married, even though she was still legally married to Boutaya . The religious ceremony was performed by Imam Aly Hindy .
Need a program? I don’t blame you.
The murky issue here is that the cloak of religious rights is being used to defend a polygamous union that has hurt both Rigby, Boutaya, and their combined 7 children. As Boutaya points out:
"This is not Islamic. Nothing about this marriage was Islamic," said Boutaya, who now has sole custody of his two children. "They used Islam to hide their affair."
According to the article, NDP MPP Andrea Horwath has been trying to get the government to address the issue of polygamy for years. But governments of all levels and stripes seem reluctant to get involved.
Once again, political correctness is undermining Canadian values. And the irony is that the very people who are being hurt are the ones that come to Canada with the hopes of a better life, and a strong belief that Canada is different - That a law here means something and is not to be broken.
And now their hearts and lives are broken instead.
June 1st, 2008 at 2:28 pm
One interesting point is the fact that FDLS mormons in BC have been breaking the law for 60 years and no one did anything about it: That’s pre-Charter. So while that darn Charter makes the law harder to enforce now (to be fair it’s mostly the scum lawyers that twist the law; but laws should be twist proof) there was nothing holding them back 60 years ago. Why did no one stop them and set a good precedent that could be used now?
June 1st, 2008 at 2:36 pm
The gate is open and there is no closing it now. One man and one women, was the foundation of our society, this is now gone. Swingers clubs are legal. Marriage has been made meaningless to many people. Nero fiddles as Rome burns.
No political party will have the balls to stop this, none. Creaping sharia, at a time when young Muslim girls need strong laws in Canada to protect them from domination. Where are the feminists now?
June 1st, 2008 at 2:53 pm
This is indeed encouraging. Maybe by refocusing on women’s rights, liberals can be persuaded to look more closely at the fundamental incompatibility of many elements of Islam with liberal democracy. Better late than never.
June 1st, 2008 at 2:57 pm
The official explanation is apparently something like this: as long the parties to the subsequent
marriage(s) do not register the marriage and do not access public funds (social security, etc.) the marriages are considered to be in name only and not marriages for any legal purpose.
My impression was that certainly in Toronto Muslim families with multiple spouses actually were claiming social benefits, but maybe someone can confirm this.
June 1st, 2008 at 2:57 pm
Hunter:
With regards to one man and one woman, I respectfully disagree. If anything; common law marriage (which for the record I do not regard as wrong) did some damage; and adultery does the most damage. Here we have a class of people who have no obligation to get married; yet they fought until they could get married because they so dearly wished to declare their love and be married before God. I think that speaks more to the sanctity of marriage then lack of it. As a (straight, for the record) libertarian, I do not believe we should deny marriage to anyone because of the way they were born. I view marriage as a union of two (and ONLY two) souls. Souls don’t really have a sex.
June 1st, 2008 at 3:25 pm
May, some good points, but a male and male can not procreate, get married, fine, I have no problem with that, but it is still not the fabric of our society which needs children.
The worse damage is done by divorce, that is what started the downward spiral, not gay marriages. Easy divorce leads to a lack of commitment to ANY relationship, same as swingers clubs disrespect marriage and all it should mean.
June 1st, 2008 at 3:26 pm
My impression was that certainly in Toronto Muslim families with multiple spouses actually were claiming social benefits, but maybe someone can confirm this.
That’s true. I’ve mentioned this several times. One link can be found here.
June 1st, 2008 at 7:15 pm
The attempted destruction of marriage isn’t even the biggest problem. It’s the growing acceptance and legitimization of “babydaddys” who’ll knock a chick up and bolt. The statistics show a sharp increase in single mothers in the last 15 years. And how many of our penitentiary guests are from broken, single-parent homes? MOST of them. But hey… the Liberals out there are telling us that it’s all good - that EVERYTHING should be allowed, accepted, tolerated, and praised in our society. Gay lifestyles and marriage? Awesome! Polygamy? Even better! Increasing number of single moms? You go girl! Pedophilia, Beastiality and necrophelia? Hey why not - everything else is a-ok why not the most vile things possible? Bleh.
June 1st, 2008 at 8:17 pm
I think when people are hurt, that’s where we need to draw the line. Bountiful is more difficult to prosecute, because it’s more difficult to prove that individuals have been hurt. If the women are all on board, then how can the Attorney General prosecute?
I think that the situation in the Muslim community is a bit different because apparently a polygamous marriage is not necessary to get to Heaven whereas in the Morman fundamentalist religion it is.
June 2nd, 2008 at 6:53 am
Hi J ….I found this article http://88.80.13.160/wiki/Mormon_Church_attempts_to_gag_Internet_over_handbook
I guess if the government wanted to stop this sort of thing they could at least make it public ..you know educate people …common law is a very weak law in one sense but can be bent beyond description at the same time …probably a invention of a lawyer in order to create work ….
June 2nd, 2008 at 10:10 am
I’m so glad that Fouad Boutaya stepped forward. It’s been a long road of suffering for me and my children. But at least at this time, I can say that my heart is no longer involved.
Polygamy is not an obligation. It’s not a part of the religion that has to be adhered to. It’s an exception to the rule. My husband used and abused this.
When I think of how my children are affected and Boutaya’s children…….
It sure says something that Boutaya has sole custody of the children….and so do I.
The couple deserves each other.
June 2nd, 2008 at 10:21 am
Safa, thank you so much for taking the time to respond here!
I am very happy to hear that you and your family are starting to heal emotionally and are moving on.
I have just posted an update to the story today. I hope you get a chance to read it and possibly leave a comment. I’d love to hear your point of view.
Thanks again.
June 2nd, 2008 at 6:49 pm
Welcome Safa; thank you for taking the time to speak with us.
Hunter: I agree; particularly with your point on “swingers” clubs (at first I didn’t understand what you meant) which is just a form of adultery. I agree that children are a foundation of society; unfortunately there are many children without parents.
Joanne: I think I see the point you are trying to make but again I must respectfully disagree. I believe there is plenty of harm being done in Bountiful. It casts a shameful shadow on what the famous five fought for here in Canada.
June 3rd, 2008 at 5:23 pm
[...] of Muslim women and children Important Update : Safa Rigby responds in the Comment Section on the previous post [...]
June 15th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Can’t seem to see the update…..
June 15th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Can’t seem to see the update…..
June 15th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Safa, the update I was referring to is here.
If you have any additional information regarding this story, please feel free to let us know. Thanks.