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I have heard many in the community say
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that we should look towards the life of
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the Prophet to know how to respond to
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the allegations of child sexual assault.
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And in doing so, I have noticed that
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there is only one incident that's consistently mentioned,
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and that is the slander of Aisha, that
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there were companions who participated in slandering our
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mother, and in doing so, they were part
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of a grave sin.
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And therefore, we should wait before we have
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any more information about the allegations against Wissam
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Sharif.
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I'd like to share with you that that
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comes from a place of deep concern for
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our community.
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The problem is that when we prioritize a
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particular incident in the time of the Prophet
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ﷺ, and overextend legal maxims that we can
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derive from that incident, instead of mentioning other
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instances in the life of the Prophet ﷺ
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that are more applicable in this moment, ones
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in which injustice occurred, ones in which the
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Prophet ﷺ held a perpetrator responsible and accountable,
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and taught his community ﷺ accountability, what we
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do is then give credence to the idea
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that speaking about child sexual assault or *,
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speaking about gendered violence, speaking about *, creating
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child *, only happens in this one instance
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or on very rare occasions, when in reality
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speaking about it right now in this moment
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is so critical because child sexual assault, *
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exists in every community.
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This is not one instance in which it
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has happened and it is shocking and it's
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never existed before or again.
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There are adults who are watching this video
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who are the victims and survivors of child
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sexual assault, who from their Qur'an teacher
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as a man were molested or assaulted when
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they were a little boy.
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From their time that they were a child,
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a young girl in the home of their
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parents may have been assaulted or molested by
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their mother or by a grandfather.
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So taking this moment in our community to
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instead of prioritizing the conversation on protecting the
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potential perpetrator, instead of holding accountability for the
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victim, creating systems of accountability within our communities.
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Beyond this case, we are going to change
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our community to ensure that our victims of
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child sexual assault know that we will never
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tolerate it and we will act swiftly like
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the Prophet ﷺ did when there was a
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woman who was going to the masjid to
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pray in Medina and she was raped and
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she came to the Prophet ﷺ and the
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Prophet ﷺ found the perpetrator and the Prophet
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ﷺ held accountability.
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We can draw from both incidents and honor
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the idea that we should always speak with
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caution but we should also recognize that child
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sexual assault, *, gendered violence, grooming, spiritual abuse
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are all realities in every community including ours
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and that our religion teaches us how to
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navigate prioritizing victims, protecting the most vulnerable and
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ensuring that our community has a no-tolerance
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policy.
