Redemption

This would be me my latest poem.

On sexual abuse.

Two ways NOT to talk about the recently-exposed child sexual abuse case in Pakistan

It shouldn’t hurt to be any living thing, period. Unless you’re a child abuse or other criminal. God deal with you asap, aameen!

Background: Last week, police in Pakistan discovered some 400 video recordings of over 280 children being forced to have sex in Punjab – by 25 men. According to HuffPost, “Villagers in the central Punjabi village of Husain Khan Wala told Reuters that a prominent family there has for years forced children to perform sex acts on video. The footage was sold or used to blackmail their impoverished families.” Some of the families who went to the police to report the crimes say that instead of getting the perpetrator, the police took their children in custody and/or the families were told to get lost.

The media everywhere is addressing the case as “the largest sex abuse scandal in Pakistan,” and I’m troubled by the claims that 1) it’s a scandal, and 2) it’s the largest ever (wherever).

Responses to the Sexual Abuse Post – Part 6

Apologies, readers, that this was lost in my drafts somewhere! Here’s another response to the series on sexual abuse. This is the account of a male reader who shares the impact of his now 40-year-old brother’s abuse on both the brother and the family. God grant all involved innocent parties peace and strength. What a burden and pain to carry for so long . . .

9. What I’m pasting below was written by someone in response to an article I wrote on sexual abuse among children and refugees in Pakistan (the other 5 stories can be read here.) Pasting the individual’s comment verbatim from there. Be warned that it’s a painful read.

How Not to Respond When You Hear an Imam is Sexually Abusing People

Just to clarify: the title of this post is referring not to survivers of sexual abuse but to those who hear about sexual abuse. The following are some things *not* to say when you learn that a Qur’an teacher, an imam, or other religious community leader is sexually abusing people.

The post below is specifically in response to the recent sexual abuse by the Chicago imam, who — let’s all thank the Creator — now has been charged with sexually abusing an employee! May those whom he harmed, in any and every way, find love and strength to cope with the repercussions of the crimes this man has committed against them. And may those because of whom this man is now being punished be rewarded for their pursuit of justice despite the consequences.  May all such criminals be brought to justice soon, aameen!

Petition to Address Sexual Abuse in the Muslim Community

I recently saw this letter in a listserv and would like to share it here (I have permission) for more publicity. Please send an email to Samar.kaukab@gmail.com with your name (and institution, if you’d like) as soon as possible for your signature to be included in the petition. The letter calls for the signatures of “scholars,” but all are invited.

I’m pasting the email/letter. Please direct any queries to the above email address.

Thank you!

Responses to the Sexual Abuse Post – Part 5

As I’ve said in previous blog posts, when I raised this reality of sexual abuse by Qur’an teachers in the Muslim community on my old blog, many people responded by sharing their own experiences or at least something they’d seen. I’ve shared some of those responses in the last entries, and some are here.

Responses to the Sexual Abuse Post – Part 4

Continuing the responses to a post I wrote previously on my Qur’an teacher sexually abusing girls.

The responses below came in the form of comments or short messages, not in the form of email. So I’m sharing them in one post here. Most of these were posted as comments on the old blog when I first raised this issue of sexual abuse in Muslim communities. (If you think this means only Muslims can be or are sexual abusers, you are one of the stupidest people on earth and you need to 1) go read, 2) be friends with more people from backgrounds different from your own, 3) stop wasting your time on social media and actually meet and interact with people through it who can enlighten and challenge you!)

Responses to the Sexual Abuse Post – Part 3: sexual abuse at Sunday School

3. Another blog reader who emailed me in response to my post on how my Qur’an teacher sexually abused girls in my elementary school. Pasting verbatim what she shared with me (and allowed me to post it on my blog) – a reminder from her to our communities: never, EVER blame the person who’s being or has been abused! It’s never their fault. Never. (I’m collecting stories of sexual abuse on my blog at this link; please feel free to share anything in regards to the subject if you’re comfortable doing so.)

Responses to the Sexual Abuse Post – Part 2: Sexually Abused by a Qur’an Teacher at Home

2. Below, I share a response from someone who read that sexual abuse by a Qur’an teacher post of mine and allowed me to share their experience as well. I shared another individual’s story in another blog post before this – it can be read here.

Educate yourself, and listen to those who open up to you.

Responses to the Sexual Abuse Post – Part 1

I’d first like to thank people for the immense support in response to the sexual abuse post I wrote a couple of weeks ago on how my Qur’an teacher sexually abused girls in my elementary school. I honestly didn’t expect the kind of support the post received, so I think just by at least willing to hear/read something like this and then openly condemn the culprit (in my case, the qaari/imam/Qur’an teacher) is a huge step in the Muslim community. Sure, there were a couple of angry responses – believe it: someone even said, “Qur’an teachers are human, too, and like everyone else, they make mistakes 🙂 God doesn’t want you to expose someone’s mistakes/sins.” I’ll talk about this reaction in another blog post. One person was upset that I mentioned in the post that my “Qur’an teacher” did that because 1) now non-Muslims will attack Islam even more, and 2) “not all Qur’an teachers do that, all right?!” #NotAllImams, anyone? k) But honestly, everyone else whose response I’ve seen has said some version of: “This is unacceptable! We need to do everything in our power to stop this!” So thank you all for that!

Educate yourself, and listen to those who open up to you.