How Islam Can Help Prevent Sexual Abuse Scandals

The Independent recently published an article titled, "How the Teachings of Islam Could Help Us Prevent More Sexual Abuse Scandals," by Qasim Rashid. For once, I actually agree with Qasim Rashid. So, in this video, I present ten ways Islam can help prevent sexual abuse scandals.

Three Quran Verses Every Woman Should Know

In 2009, the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development released a report on Gender Equality and Social Institutions. The study concluded that eleven of the twelve countries with the highest levels of discrimination against women were Muslim-majority countries.

A similar study in 2014, conducted by the World Economic Forum, concluded that 19 of the 20 countries with the largest gender gap between men and women were Muslim-majority countries.

Are these results connected to the teachings of Islam, or are they mere coincidence? In this video, I present three Quran verses every woman needs to know. These verses show that in order to challenge the gender gap in Muslim countries, we must all challenge the commands of Allah and Muhammad.

SOURCES CITED IN THIS VIDEO:

Qur'an 2:282—O you who believe! When you contract a debt for a fixed period, write it down. Let a scribe write it down in justice between you. Let not the scribe refuse to write as Allah has taught him, so let him write. Let him (the debtor) who incurs the liability dictate, and he must fear Allah, his Lord, and diminish not anything of what he owes. But if the debtor is of poor understanding, or weak, or is unable himself to dictate, then let his guardian dictate in justice. And get two witnesses out of your own men. And if there are not two men (available), then a man and two women, such as you agree for witnesses, so that if one of them (two women) errs, the other can remind her. And the witnesses should not refuse when they are called on (for evidence). You should not become weary to write it (your contract), whether it be small or big, for its fixed term, that is more just with Allah; more solid as evidence, and more convenient to prevent doubts among yourselves, save when it is a present trade which you carry out on the spot among yourselves, then there is no sin on you if you do not write it down. But take witnesses whenever you make a commercial contract. Let neither scribe nor witness suffer any harm, but if you do (such harm), it would be wickedness in you. So be afraid of God; and God teaches you. And God is the All-Knower of each and everything.

Qur'an 2:223—Your wives are a tilth for you, so go to your tilth when or how you will, and send (good deeds, or ask Allah to bestow upon you pious offspring) before you for your ownselves. And fear Allah, and know that you are to meet Him (in the Hereafter), and give good tidings to the believers (O Muhammad).

Qur'an 4:34—Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excel the other, and because they spend of their property (for the support of women). So good women are obedient, guarding in secret that which Allah hath guarded. As for those from whom you fear rebellion, admonish them and banish them to beds apart, and scourge them. Then if they obey you, seek not a way against them.

Sahih al-Bukhari 2658—The Prophet said: “Isn’t the witness of a woman equal to half of that of a man?” The women said: “Yes.” He said: “This is because of the deficiency of a woman’s mind.”

Sunan Abu Dawud 2159—Ibn Abbas said: Ibn Umar misunderstood (the Qur’anic verse, “so come to your tilth however you will”)—may Allah forgive him. The fact is that this clan of the Ansar who were idolaters lived in the company of the Jews who were the people of the Book. They (the Ansar) accepted their superiority over themselves in respect of knowledge, and they followed most of their actions. The people of the Book (i.e. the Jews) used to have intercourse with their women on one side alone (i.e. lying on their backs). This was the most concealing for (the vagina of) women. This clan of the Ansar adopted this practice from them. But this tribe of the Quraish used to uncover their women intensely, and seek pleasure with them from in front and behind and laying them on their backs. When the Muhajirun (the Immigrants) came to Medina, a man married a woman of the Ansar. He began to do the same kind of action with her, but she disliked it, and said to him: We were approached on one side (i.e. lying on back); do it so, otherwise keep away from me. This matter of theirs spread widely, and it reached the Apostle of Allah. So Allah, the Exalted, sent down the Qur’anic verse: “Your wives are a tilth to you, so come to your tilth however you will,” i.e. from in front, from behind or lying on the back. By this the verse meant the place of the delivery of the child, i.e. vagina.

Sunan Ibn Majah 1853—It was narrated that Abdullah bin Abu Awfa said: “When Mu’adh bin Jabal came from Sham, he prostrated to the Prophet, who said: “What is this, O Mu’adh?’ He said: ‘I went to Sham and saw them prostrating to their bishops and patricians (i.e. aristocrats), and I wanted to do that for you.’ The Messenger of Allah said: ‘Do not do that. If I were to command anyone to prostrate to anyone other than Allah, I would have commanded women to prostrate to their husbands. By the One in Whose Hand is the soul of Muhammad! No woman can fulfill her duty towards Allah until she fulfills her duty towards her husband. If he asks her (for intimacy) even if she is on her camel saddle, she should not refuse.’”

Jami at-Tirmidhi 1160—Talq bin Ali narrated that the Messenger of Allah said: “When a man calls his wife to fulfill his need, then let her come, even if she is at the oven.”

Sahih al-Bukhari 5825—Narrated Ikrima: Rifaa divorced his wife whereupon Abdur-Rahman married her. Aisha said that the lady came wearing a green veil and complained to her (Aisha) and showed her a green spot on her skin caused by beating. It was the habit of ladies to support each other, so when Allah’s messenger came, Aisha said, “I have not seen any woman suffering as much as the believing women. Look! Her skin is greener than her clothes!” When Abdur-Rahman heard that his wife had gone to the prophet, he came with his two sons from another wife. She said, “By Allah! I have done no wrong to him, but he is impotent and is as useless to me as this,” holding and showing the fringe of her garment. Abdur-Rahman said, “By Allah, O Allah’s messenger! She has told a lie. I am very strong and can satisfy her, but she is disobedient and wants to go back to Rifaa.” Allah's messenger said to her, “If that is your intention, then know that it is unlawful for you to remarry Rifaa unless Abdur-Rahman has had sexual intercourse with you.” The prophet saw two boys with Abdur-Rahman and asked (him), “Are these your sons?” On that Abdur-Rahman said, “Yes.” The prophet said, “You claim what you claim (that he is impotent)? But by Allah, these boys resemble him as a crow resembles a crow.”

Click here for the New York Times article.

Click here for the Human Rights Watch study.

The Status of Women According to Islam

The status of women in Islam is a subject enshrouded in controversy. According to many Muslims, Muhammad was a champion of women’s rights, bestowing upon the women in his community privileges and rights that they did not have previously. The notion that women in pre-Islamic Arabia had no rights, however, is demonstrably untrue. Former Muslim Nabeel Qureshi lists some of the rights that women had in pre-Islamic Arabia, which included ease of divorce, the ability to marry multiple men, and become overlords. Women were even able to propose for marriage, as in fact was the case with respect to Khadija’s marriage to Muhammad.

Study: 19 of 20 Worst Countries for Women Are Muslim-Majority Countries

It's official. According to the latest data, 19 of the 20 worst places in the world to be a woman are Muslim-majority countries. That's too strong a correlation to be a coincidence. (Note: The only country in the top 20 that isn't a Muslim-majority country is Ethiopia, where more than a third of the population is Muslim.)

Meanwhile, Muslim organizations like CAIR continue to silence anyone who criticizes the treatment of women in Muslim lands, and gullible American "feminists" are converting to Islam.

(CNSNews.com) – Nineteen out of 20 countries with the lowest scores in an annual survey of gender equality around the world are Islamic, and 12 are Arab states.

As a bloc, the Muslim world’s showing in this year’s “Global Gender Gap” report, compiled by the World Economic Forum (WEF) and released on Tuesday, is even worse than in previous recent years, when 17 of the bottom 20 were Islamic states.

The survey, covering a total of 142 countries this year, measures gaps between women and men in four key areas: political empowerment, economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, and health and survival.

The 20 countries at the bottom of the 2014 list, in order from the lowest-ranked, are Yemen, Pakistan, Chad, Syria, Mali, Iran, Cote d’Ivoire, Lebanon, Jordan, Morocco, Guinea, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Oman, Ethiopia, Algeria, Turkey, Bahrain and Tunisia.

With the exception of Ethiopia, all are Muslim-majority states.

The highest-ranking Islamic state in the WEF survey is Kazakhstan in 43rd place. (Mozambique, ranked 27th, is a member of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation bloc, but does not have a Muslim majority.)

The highest-placed Arab state is Kuwait, in 113th position.

At the other end of the WEF survey, as was the case in previous years, are the Nordic countries, with Iceland, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark taking the top five places. (Continue Reading.)

To see why there is such a massive problem in the Muslim world, watch this short video:

Rayhaneh Jabbari Set to Be Executed in Iran for Defending Herself against Rapist

In order to accuse a man of rape, Sharia requires a rape victim to produce four male witnesses. Since Rayhaneh Jabbari could not produce these witnesses, she was sentenced to death for killing a man who tried to rape her.

Meanwhile, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is at the United Nations General Assembly, lecturing the world on human rights.

Rayhaneh Jabbari

Fox News—An Iranian woman sentenced to death for killing a man who tried to rape her told her mother goodbye and prepared to die, even as the Islamic republic’s president was meeting with world leaders at the United Nations.

Rayhaneh Jabbari, 26, is set to be executed Tuesday, according to reports from Iran. On Monday, her mother, Shole Paravan, recounted on her Facebook page an emotional farewell call her daughter made when a sympathetic guard loaned her a cellphone before she was taken to Rajaiy Shahr Prison to be hanged.

“I am currently handcuffed and there is a car waiting outside to take me for the execution of the sentence,” Jabbari told her mother, whose recounting in Farsi was translated by FoxNews.com. “Goodbye, dear Mum. All of my pains will finish early tomorrow morning. I’m sorry I cannot lessen your pain. Be patient. We believe in life after death. I’ll see you in the next world and I will never leave you again because being separated from you is the most difficult thing to do in the world.”

The distraught mother wrote that she called the prison to ask what she could do and was told to come Tuesday to collect her daughter’s body.

In April, a court postponed Jabbari’s execution in the face of heavy international outcry, including an international petition with nearly 200,000 signatures. But the grim news that the sentence will soon be carried out came as Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, trying to put a moderate face on the regime.

Supporters of Rouhani hoped his election last year would usher in a more tolerant era than the one of his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, particularly regarding human rights. But advocacy groups say the number of executions and violations have increased.

“This abhorrent execution must not be allowed to take place, particularly when there are serious doubts about the circumstances of the killing,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Middle East and North Africa deputy director at Amnesty International. “Instead of continuing to execute people, authorities in Iran should reform their judicial system, which dangerously relies on processes which fail to meet international law and standards for fair trial.”

Jabbari, who worked as a decorator, was convicted of the 2007 fatal stabbing of Morteza Abdolali Sarbandi, a former employee of the Iranian Intelligence Ministry. Jabbari, who was 19 at the time, has long maintained Sarbandi drugged her and tried to rape her after the two met at a café and she agreed to go to his office to discuss a business deal.

Sarbandi took Jabbari to a rundown building in a remote location, according to her supporters. Once there, he offered her a fruit drink which forensic tests conducted by the police determined contained a date-rape drug, according to human rights advocates.

Jabbari allegedly stabbed Sarbandi in the shoulder with a small pocket knife and fled, while Sarbandi bled to death. (Continue Reading.)

For more on women in Islam, watch this:

Women's Rights Activist Sameera Salih Ali al-Nuaimy Executed by ISIS

According to the Qur'an, women are inferior to men and can be beaten into submission by their husbands (4:34). Hence, any woman who demands equality is violating Allah's commands and is therefore an apostate.

Not surprisingly, the Islamic State is executing women's rights activists. But don't hold your breath waiting for Western feminists to speak out against Muhammad's teachings.

Sameera Salih Ali al-Nuaimy

GENEVA (New York times) — An Iraqi lawyer known for her work promoting women’s rights has been killed by Islamic State fighters, the head of the United Nations human rights office said on Thursday, continuing a pattern of attacks on professional women.

The lawyer, Sameera Salih Ali al-Nuaimy, was seized from her home by Islamic State fighters last week and tortured for several days before a masked firing squad executed her in public on Monday, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, the United Nations human rights commissioner, said in a statement.

Ms. Nuaimy had posted comments on her Facebook page condemning the “barbaric” bombing and destroying of mosques and shrines in Mosul, a northern Iraqi city, by the Islamic State, the militant group also known as ISIS or ISIL. She was convicted of apostasy by a “so-called court,” Mr. Zeid said, adding that her family had been barred from giving her a funeral.

The killing follows the execution of a number of Iraqi women in areas under Islamic State control documented by United Nations monitors, including two candidates contesting Iraq’s general election in Nineveh Province, who were killed in July. A third female candidate was abducted by gunmen in eastern Mosul and has not been heard from since.

United Nations monitors in Iraq have received numerous reports of executions of women by Islamic State gunmen, some after perfunctory trials, the organization said. “Educated, professional women seem to be particularly at risk,” it added. (Continue Reading.)

For more on women in Islam, watch this: