A few years ago when I was working with the Makkah-based Muslim World League (MWL), the secretary-general of the MWL office in London visited me in my office. He was a highly qualified and well-educated man. I was thus surprised when he expressed his desire to resign from his job. I asked him why he was thinking of taking such a step at a time when the WML was fully satisfied with his performance. I pointed out that he was drawing a good salary and enjoyed an excellent social and legal status in London.
The man said it was fear for his teenage daughter that made him think seriously of quitting his job, leaving and returning to his home country. He said he had begun to notice some strange behavior in his daughter, including making friends that he feared would lead to undesirable consequences. He wanted to protect his family from any danger by taking them back to their Muslim country. He said he could not protect his daughter from herself or from others while in Britain; if he tried to do so, he might find himself legally punishable under laws protecting human rights.
I reluctantly accepted his resignation. The man was then paid his full dues and left to live in his own country where I hope he succeeded in achieving what he wanted for his family and himself in a healthy and peaceful environment.
Based on my visits to various Western countries where Muslim communities live and my discussions with them about the lives they lead, I understand that they unanimously agree that moving from their countries to these places has enabled them to escape persecution and poverty, to live decent free lives where everything is governed by law and where there is equality in rights and responsibilities. What these Muslims really complain of, however, is their constant concern and fear for their children.
The effect can be especially devastating for the second generation of the children of Muslims who will be fully assimilated in a totally free society where sex before marriage is available for all and is not considered a crime and where not even parents are allowed to object to their children’s behavior even if it contradicts their religious beliefs. Once they are 18, both boys and girls are free to act without restrictions.
It is this type of freedom that frightens these parents. The media keeps telling us about Muslim parents who resort to killing their daughters after the girls behave in ways that are not in accordance with their religious teachings and who thus bring shame on their families. Such killings are known as honor killings.
And who is to blame for all this? It is tyrannical rulers who force their people to flee oppression and poverty and live in foreign countries where they expose their families and themselves to dangerous threats.
