In the wake of the tragic murder of Aasiya Hassan, imams across the country will be giving Friday sermons against domestic violence tomorrow.
If your mosque or imam has not joined in yet, please encourage them to do so and please help to spread the word.
For those of you in the SF Bay Area, the following imams will be taking part:
- Islamic Society of San Francisco – Imam Khalid Siddiqui
- South Bay Islamic Association (San Jose, CA) – Imam Tahir Anwar
- Zaytuna Institute (Berkeley, CA) – Shaykh Hamza Yusuf
It’s long overdue, but I’m glad that community members and leaders are finally speaking out. Last year I found out that a family friend of ours regularly beat his wife.
For decades the only thing she asked of him was to spare the three children from the knowledge that he abused her. She requested that he take her to the bedroom and beat her there, where she would stuff her mouth with cloth so they wouldn’t hear her cries.
He is a pillar of the local mosque, a doctor, and an abuser. His children finally found out and forbade him to ever lay a finger on her again.
It’s about time that we all speak out against people like that.
Related articles:
Wajahat Ali’s excellent article in The Guardian, A Wake-Up Call for the Community
KufiGirl: National Organization of (Some) Women Gets it Wrong: More on Muzzammil Hassan and DomesticViolence
Salon: Murder while Muslim
Beliefnet’s American Muslims call for Swift Acion against Domestic Violence
ISNA’s Open Letter to Leaders of American Muslim Communities
Just Another Angry Black Muslim Woman? on How Lack of Accountability led to the Rise of a Monster
Muslimah Media Watch’s comprehensive listing of links and articles
Update:
Shaykh Hamza Yusuf’s sermon: “Removing the Silence on Domestic Violence“
5 comments
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February 19, 2009 at 9:50 pm
Hayah
This is absoloutely fabulous news Masha Allah! I’ve working on women’s rights and gender based violence for the past few years and the most difficult aspect has been working with muslim communities.
What happened to Aasiya was atrocious and more so committed by a man who portayed himself as a modern, and understanding ‘Muslim’. May her family heal in time Insha Allah and may she finally find peace at last. Ameen.
Its really really great that mosque leaders are speaking out about this issue in the West, and I hope its will be easier in time to come for Muslim communities in especially South Asia and Middle East to be open and honest about the existence of the problem and in their ways of addressing it.
ITs great news! Thanks for sharing!
February 20, 2009 at 7:27 am
Falsa
Yes, alhamdulillah I’m glad people are taking a stand for something as taboo and painful as domestic violence. Why do we need murdersm to act as our wake up call?
February 20, 2009 at 7:41 am
Mezba
it is indeed a worthy initiative. let’s see what our imam does today.
many people sadly believe it’s only the lower strata of society that is engaged in domestic violence.
February 20, 2009 at 5:21 pm
non-Muslim Wandering Past
Domestic violence … another one of those curses that unfortunately doesn’t restrict itself by racial, religious, economic, or even gender groupings
For a short time between other protection contracts many years ago, I spent some time helping set up a refuge house for victims of this that had made the choice to get clear of their abusers, and it was an eye opener to hear of the clients they expected (and the threat levels they would face).
Although for myself, I don’t like classifying abuse at home as “domestic abuse”. Assault is assault, bullying is bullying, and murder is murder – whether its your spouse, your children, your parents, or some stranger on the street.
Giving it its own “title” always seems to dilute it from being what it is, it feels
Mezba’s hit one nail right on the head though … A big problem is the “Oh, it can never happen with ‘our’ kind of people” attitude some people (regardless of community) have.
February 21, 2009 at 8:11 am
~W~
This is a vital initiative that is , as you say, long overdue. It is a good thing Imams are finally realizing the need to speak against domestic violence.