Canadian Landlord Fined $12k for Wearing Shoes in Muslim Tenant's Home

A Canadian landlord was fined $12,000 for not taking his shoes off when entering a Muslim tenant's home.

"I was humiliated, I was made to feel I have no rights, I was made to feel that I'm not wanted in society," landlord John Alabi told the Toronto Sun. "I feel powerless."

Last December, Alabi decided to rent out his home to Walid Madkour and Heba Islmail, an Egyptian-born Muslim couple. After just two months they decided to move out.

Alabi began showing their room to potential renters, but was surprised when he was suddenly hunted down by the The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario.

The couple said he violated their religious beliefs by not taking his shoes off when entering the home.

It is customary for Muslims to remove their shoes when entering their home, especially in rooms where they pray.

The tribunal also said Alabi "created a poisoned housing environment" and had to pay them $6,000 each.

Alabi told the Toronto Sun the couple never complained when he wore his shoes in the home to do repairs, and filed their latest complaint eight months after it happened.

"I have been victimized," Alabi said. "They are using their religion to victimize me."

Not everyone is sympathetic to Alabi.

Jo-Anne Pickel, who worked on the tribunal, said the Muslim tenants were not trying to force their religion on anyone. Instead, she argues they were just asking Alabi to respect their faith.

"Unfortunately, attempts by Muslims to practice their faith have increasingly been interpreted as an attempt to impose their way of life on others," Pickel wrote. “Far from seeking to impose their way of life on anyone, the applicants were merely making simple requests for the accommodation of their religious practices."

Alabi came to Canada years ago from Nigeria in hopes of building a better life. He never expected his adopted country would punish him for a human rights violation.

"I just see everybody as human beings like me. That's why I took them in," he says. "We got along. And then all of a sudden I'm a racist?"

Alabi rents out the suite to help pay the bills and says he is unsure how he will come up with the money to pay for the fines.

"I don't have the money. I work very hard. If they go into my bank account right now, I don't have $12,000 there."