Maryam Amir – Spiritual Abuse
AI: Summary ©
The speaker discusses the current culture of protecting victims and the need for a national system of accountability. They highlight the importance of providing evidence and training women religiousiteracy. The speaker also emphasizes the importance of not harming or reciprocating harm and mentions a maxim from the Prophet Muhammad about peace being upon his harmed or minor victim.
AI: Summary ©
As a community culture, we sometimes prioritize protecting
the abuser or the predator over the victim, and in this context,
I'm referring to men who are in positions of religious leadership,
who have financially, physically or sexually preyed upon women and
children and men. What does the current culture that we have look
like? It looks like making excuses for a predator or an abuser and
saying hiding sins is more important than protecting other
victims, it looks like being warned and even having evidence of
a religious leader's predatory behavior, and yet they're still
invited lectures at a conference. Looks like asking questions like,
Why did you meet him in the first place instead of full stop
statement? * is in no circumstances ever acceptable. How
do we change that culture to reflect the objectives of Islamic
law? We work with the victims to bring criminal charges, no
invitations and no leadership, and Masjid boards. Just because
someone has repented doesn't mean that the harm that they have done
is gone. It can go through professional rehabilitation and
take roles outside of religious leadership. We need every single
Masjid to hire women religious scholars. We need to create a
national system of accountability like USADA. Shazia Ahmed has
called for Imams and religious leaders go through training to
become licensed funding restorative justice in Islamic
history, the Imam was the one who led prayers and taught knowledge.
They were not the one who was the lawyer, the marriage counselor,
the therapist. We need to fund in our communities professionals and
create normative systems work through restorative justice, de
platforming the predator, the clear message that we have a zero
tolerance policy for predators. Any woman say that they don't
trust any men in religious leadership. And I understand where
that comes from. It comes from a place of immense pain, but we
truly have incredible Imams, imams I work with every week, and Dr
Rania Awad, who is a scholar and also the director of the Stanford
Muslim mental health lab, it's about how the majority of Imams
truly are invested betterment of their communities. Queens, I want
you to identify your power. There are situations that are outright
cases. For example, if a religious leader slides into your DMS and
talks about how your Noor is brighter than any other woman's
block him, screenshot it if you feel safe and like you could be
heard. Take it to the masjid leadership, who oversee the
employment of said religious leader, who should then threaten
determination and dismissal from his position, because no man in a
space of religious authority who is implicitly trusted due to his
position has an excuse to come at woman that way. Revivers should
never have to decide to publicize all of the abuse that they've
experienced simply so that our community would listen and protect
other women. In fiqh, there is a maxim that harm should be removed.
This derived from a statement of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be
upon him. Be neither harming nor reciprocating harm. The example of
the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. When a woman came to him
who was raped in Medina, he didn't ask her what she was doing out or
what she was wearing. He took action.