An imam who was criticised last week over comments comparing the treatment of Canadian Muslims to Jews during the Holocaust said he was misinterpreted.Syed Soharwardy said on Friday that he regretted the way his comments were portrayed. He said he did not mean to compare the banning of the niqab to the treatment of Jews during the Holocaust. Instead, Muslims in Canada are beginning to feel as if they are under attack much as the Jews were in the years before the Holocaust.
"I said the current situation of Muslims that we are facing is trending towards a situation that will be very very horrible. I created a similarity just to make a point, not to insult, not to be unrealistic or insensitive or incorrect," he said on Friday.
Controversy began after the Calgary imam gave a TV interview last week explaining his point of view on the government's decision to bar the niqab during citizenship ceremonies. He said: "Muslims are going through that situation right now where the Jews faced before the Holocaust."
On Friday, the imam said that he is aware that no comparison should be made to the conditions the Jews suffered under Hitler. However, he fears Canada may be heading in the wrong direction.
"In that context where people started hating Jews slowly, slowly it built up and it became a huge tragedy and there is no parallel to that tragedy. I never, ever compare the size of Holocaust, the tragedy of Holocaust with anybody's misery or suffering. What I said is if the trend that continues . . . in the future we will have a major hard time for the Muslims living in North America."