Introduction Following a few recent allegations of sexual abuse, many are debating the meaning and application of the maxim “innocent until proven guilty.” As we have discussed before, believing victims and upholding the “innocent until proven guilty” standard are not mutually exclusive. First, “innocent until proven guilty” is not a simply legal formality that only …
In an interview with me, Mufti Mudassir Owais, a teacher and resident scholar at Islamic Center of Fremont, speaks about the importance of sincerity in speech and actions and checking one’s intentions. Danish Qasim: The talk is in Urdu and I have added my own translation below: In the name of Allah, the most …
Over the past few months, women have been more open about sexual advances and aggressions against them by men. Speaking more openly was (arguably) popularized with the #MeToo social media campaign initially started by activist Tarana Burke then popularized by actress Alyssa Milano in October 2017. The Muslim community certainly is not immune to these phenomena. …
Dr. George Simon, author of In Sheep’s Clothing, Understanding and Dealing with Manipulative People, explains that narcissistic games are not coming from a place of pain or insecurity, rather they are offensive tactics to establish dominance. This is an important video for anyone dealing with a narcissist. It’s very difficult for targets to understand the offensive …
In this video psychologist Dr. Juhayna Ajami talks about the need to create a safe-space for victims to come forward and get help. As we posted last week, we can simultaneously believe victims and maintain innocent until proven guilty. In this video, Dr. Juhayna explains: “Victims are suffering through so many different emotions and feelings such …
Believing victims has been a healthy step in acknowledging problems of abuse in the world. Like anything positive, if taken to an extreme there is a danger. The danger in this situation lies in presuming the guilt of everyone accused in the name of believing victims. Affirming due process and taking an accuser’s claim seriously, and …
This is part 1 of our interview with Mufti Nawaz Khan. In this part we focus on spiritual abuse as it pertains to children and protocol we can establish to avoid its occurrence. Mufti Nawaz studied in South Africa where he obtained ijaazah to teach the traditional Islamic sciences and an ijaazah in iftaa (issuing legal opinions). …
In many cases, child sexual abuse is not a sporadic event. Predators may engage in “grooming,” a process which entails identifying a potential victim, gaining their and their family’s trust, and desensitizing them to the abusive behavior. Some grooming behavior is difficult to identify because it seems benign and even positive to outsiders who are …
Dr. Jane McGregor is an author, researcher and trustee of the UK based charity, the Society for Research into Empathy, Cruelty and Sociopathy (SoRECS). She has been a great help to our spiritual abuse research, particularly in understanding the dynamics of sociopathic transaction. Dr. McGregor wrote this post for In Shaykh’s Clothing to help us …
By the time many victims come to us, they have already attempted to address their situation by seeking the help of other shaykhs/imams. Unfortunately, most of our religious leaders are woefully unprepared to address their situation and either do not understand what they are dealing with, completely ignore the victim’s problems, or even blame the …