Maryam Amir – Religious abuse and child SA

Maryam Amir
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AI: Summary ©

The speaker discusses the importance of protecting people's reputation and history as victims of child sexual assault. They emphasize the need for accountability and transparency in community conversations to stop the cycle of abuse. The speaker also addresses the issue of sexual harassment and how parents and children should be safe from it.

AI: Summary ©

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			For those of you who are adults that
		
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			are victims and survivors of child sexual assaults,
		
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			whether it was perpetrated through a Qur'an
		
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			teacher, a parent, I know that this is
		
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			an incredibly triggering time for you and all
		
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			of us.
		
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			One of the reasons why it is so
		
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			triggering is because this is not the first
		
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			time our community has learned of allegations against
		
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			a well-known international figure who teaches Qur
		
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			'an, which is why, whether or not you
		
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			to wait until you learn more, it's important
		
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			for us to address it because it is
		
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			not the first time, and when we continue
		
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			to stay silent, we give the message to
		
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			victims and survivors that protecting the reputation of
		
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			abusers and predators is more important than protecting
		
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			even child victims.
		
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			So this particular individual's case aside, you as
		
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			victims and survivors deserve to know you are
		
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			seen and heard, number one, by Allah subhanahu
		
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			wa ta'ala, and when your relationship with
		
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			Allah has been used specifically to justify your
		
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			abuse, it becomes even more of a responsibility
		
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			on people of knowledge or the community leadership
		
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			to make a clear statement.
		
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			Your abuse has been true, and the fact
		
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			that you are so shocked, angered, hurt, and
		
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			feel so betrayed is a reflection of us
		
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			not having national guidelines, standards of accountability.
		
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			Right now, the discussions I am seeing revolve
		
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			around the impact of celebrity shaykh culture, the
		
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			need for women to only teach women and
		
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			men to only teach men, the need for
		
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			more segregation between men and women to protect
		
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			men and women from falling into sin.
		
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			Code of conduct is a very important conversation,
		
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			but when we are discussing a child victim
		
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			of such horrific, disgusting, and blatant abuse of
		
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			power, our conversation needs to focus on accountability,
		
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			reparation, and long-lasting swift action, because some
		
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			of those who have been previously found guilty
		
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			are still imams in other masajid, still headlined
		
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			at conferences.
		
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			Other scholars or speakers are still speaking alongside
		
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			them, and all of that gives a message
		
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			that we all sin, we all make mistakes,
		
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			we should give nasiha in private, we should
		
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			seek forgiveness from Allah, when in reality the
		
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			message we should be giving is that we
		
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			all should seek forgiveness from Allah, but we
		
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			have a no-tolerance policy in our community
		
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			that if a person is blatantly found guilty
		
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			of clearly egregious actions, that they will not
		
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			be accepted to teach in positions of religious
		
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			authority.
		
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			And because we have not done that yet,
		
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			despite the multiple cases our community has already
		
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			experienced, when our conversations internally shift to stop
		
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			focusing on the need for women to wear
		
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			more hijab, and start honestly reflecting the reality
		
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			of our community, where parents are sexually abusing
		
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			their children, where Quran teachers who are men
		
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			are sexually abusing boys too.
		
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			This is not men against women, or all
		
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			imams against women students, this is an abuse
		
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			of power and control, and a sick perversion
		
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			to use religion, and for sisters specifically, when
		
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			Allah says, Ibn Kathir, one of the most
		
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			prolific known Quran commentators says, It is a
		
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			threat to men if they transgress against women.
		
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			For God, the Most High, the Great, is
		
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			their protector, and He seeks vengeance against those
		
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			who wronged them.