A reflection on Bill 94
A Reflection on Bill 94
On October 31st, Bill 94, or the bill on reinforcing laicity in the education network, was passed by Quebec’s CAQ government, marking another milestone in Québec’s attack against religion, with a disproportionate impact on Muslim communities of Québec.
With only one year remaining before the next Quebec elections, the political climate mirrors a familiar pattern that we have seen throughout. The Bouchard-Taylor commission, Pauline Marois’ Charte des valeurs québécoises, and the concretization of Bill 21 in 2019 all exemplify how the manufactured issue of religious symbols was either enacted legislation or was amplified to dismiss real societal issues.
This pattern is all too familiar. Today, however, it is taking a dangerous turn, one which hints at a greater expansion of these restrictive laws throughout the province, and maybe even Canada as a whole. In the guise of “protecting” the Québécois identity, the province has been allowed to bypass the federal constitution. But for a country that praises itself on its civic and global values, an important question arises: whose values are we protecting? In a globalized society, these values are often labelled as universal, yet are used as a form of censorship against whoever it wishes to subdue.
And when that is the case, how do we face these situations? By making ourselves small and conforming to the masses? Have we forgotten that visibility by itself is a form of counterculture, of resisting an oppressive status quo?
We have again let people become accustomed to not seeing us, not hearing from us, thinking that it is the only way to save ourselves from further repressions and attacks. But if we melt away our Islam for the sake of “protection”, what does it tell about our trust in Allah and his order?
“Tyranny draws its life from a society of cowards and is eradicated by the courageous.” Caution has its place, but surrendering by hiding does not.
“And Allah will deliver those who were mindful ˹of Him˺ to their place of ˹ultimate˺ triumph. No evil will touch them, nor will they grieve.”(Surah Az-Zumar, 58:11)