Man stabbed at Toronto mosque for refusing to pray

It sounds like the man who did the stabbing is suffering from a mental disorder. Is he an immigrant? Is he here legally? If so, how thoroughly did Canadian authorities check his background before admitting him into Canada? Does he have a history of violence in the country he came from?

From the National Post (Man stabbed at mosque for not praying, police say by Matthew Coutts, May 10, 2007):

An attacker who stabbed a man at a downtown mosque before attempting to kill himself did so because the victim had refused to pray with him, police said yesterday.

"The suspect wanted the victim to come pray," said Detective Ron Boyce, adding the man declined because he wasn't clean enough according to Muslim custom. "He told him that he didn't want to go, but the other gentleman insisted."

The two men began arguing at 6 p.m. on Tuesday in the lobby of the Downtown Muslim Community Centre on Parliament Street near Shuter Street. According to security footage given to police, one man pulled a 16- inch kitchen knife from his pants and attacked the other.

[. . .]

The assault continued outside, police said, and the wounded man escaped north on Parliament.

His attacker re-entered the mosque and "attempted to kill himself " by cutting his own throat, then stumbled back outside and around the block, before collapsing near the back entrance of the mosque.

[. . .]

Mafas Hashem, 23, is charged with attempted murder, assault with a weapon, weapons dangerous and carrying a concealed weapon.

Read all of Matthew Coutts' article.

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