After recent reports that boys and girls were segregated for swimming at a University of Regina-run summer camp, one online group’s use of the term ‘Sharia swimming’ has led a Regina imam and camp leaders to call for calm.
The controversy arose after the long-running summer camp began integrating some 14 children from Syria, after consultations with the federal government.
With the Syrian contingent being mostly Muslim, for religious reasons the boys and girls were kept separate at pool time. However, a complaint was received after non-Muslim children were also then segregated, for what the university called practical reasons.
Reacting on therebel.media, a Toronto-based right-wing news site, host Brian Lilley claimed ‘Sharia swimming’ had come to the country, and pushed a petition stating that, “Justin Trudeau needs to implement a strategy to stop sharia culture from creeping into Canada.”
“Canadian children are being introduced to Sharia values,” Lilley said in a posted video. “Without even being asked, the University of Regina decides to introduce Canadian children to Sharia swimming, and then says, ‘this is all about diversity.’ ”
But Harold Riemer, dean of the U of R’s kinesiology department, said the program had in fact been asked by Syrian parents that religious beliefs be taken into consideration, something the university was glad to do.
“The Syrian kids are participating with other kids in a co-ed environment, sometimes a non-co-ed environment,” he said. “The pool is a unique one just because people undress for that; it’s a different beast.”
Riemer said the summer sports school, which hosts Syrian newcomers between the ages of five and 12, will continue running along the same lines.
"(The idea that) the Syrians came so now we’re segregating everybody, that’s a misrepresentation of what happens here, and has happened here for years,” he said, adding that this is not the first year swimming has been divided by sex.
He said for planning purposes, separating boys and girls of all religions made most sense, once the request was made.
“It complicates the issue,” he admitted of the religious element behind the decision. “But at the same time, the university makes accommodations for people all the time, for religious and non-religious reasons.”
Zarqa Nawaz, a Muslim woman and Regina resident, said this was a case of kindness blown out of proportion.
“There’s nothing wrong with little boys and little girls swimming together ... They may have over-accommodated,” Nawaz said of the kinesiology department, but she appreciated the sentiment.
“I’d rather we as a western liberal society err on the side of goodness and love and accommodation, than be a society ... (that) makes people feel like they don’t belong.”
As regards the petition, Imam Saeed Noman of Regina’s Rahmah Centre took great issue with the word ‘Sharia’ being used, and said pool segregation was a matter of respecting a culture rather than any type of diktat.
“We don’t believe in segregation in every aspect of life,” Noman said. “There are just some rules we should follow. We’re just trying to protect the dignity of the women.”
Nawaz said if there’s an issue with modesty in public swimming, there’s the option of wearing a different kind of swimsuit.
Her daughter Inaya is a lifeguard with the City of Regina; she wears swim pants and a shirt “rather than wearing a bikini or something.”
“We don’t ask other people to change for us; we just change ourselves,” said Nawaz. “That, to me, is a way to include everyone.”
Getachew Woldeyesus, manager of the Regina Open Door Society, which has helped with the program, said respecting religious diversity is something immigrant outreach groups do unprompted.
“Any program that offers programming for Muslim women and children, girls and boys, they do that,” he said. “When we’re dealing with newcomers, we respect their religious practices. It has nothing to do with somebody telling us what to do.”
Noman explained how Sharia is, in essence, based on goals such as protecting your soul, your body, your wealth, your mind and your society. However, with the mental images conjured up by extreme Sharia punishments, he understands the term is often thrown about to push a certain agenda.
He said any concession made by the university on swimming was part of the give-and-take of an integrated society, adding that he himself takes his son to mixed swimming.
“It is what it is,” he said of an arrangement he’s not thrilled about. “I respect those people (who swim together) as well.”
“We’re not ‘Sharia swimming,’ ” Noman concluded. “Sharia law is when a government takes over and tries to implement all the rules of Islam. Nobody is practising as a government here, in the Muslim community. Sharia law is a big thing; this is not.”