Why Do We Treat Our Women That Way?

In a four-part video series, Senior Editor Haroon Moghul, examines the horrors of domestic violence and how they are so often marginalized in Muslim culture.

Part I: The Point Isn’t If She Got Beat Up, The Point Is Women Get Beat Up

A few days ago, I posted a link on my Facebook wall to a dramatization of a woman’s abuse. One response, and one response in particular, really angered me. What is it with Muslims and domestic violence, and why do we find it so hard, in the face of evil and wrong, to just accept that wrong was done, and stop splitting hairs?

Part II: ‘I was 19 and I was raped’

God this hurt to watch. So bad I couldn’t. Until I realized I had to. This happens; this happens more than we’d like to know or admit. And what do we propose we’ll do about it? First off, I was like, “how can I share this?”–until I realized, “how could I not?” The original video I’m referencing can be found here.

Part III: What Would the Prophet Muhammad Post?

Sometimes you can’t stop pain. You can’t save people from hurt. There’s wrongs happening all around us. But we can choose how we respond to people who’ve been hurt, harmed, or oppressed. There’s one moment in Muhammad’s life that captures everything he stood for: Radical, unbelievable compassion. “He is of me,” he said, “and I am of him.”

People often ask me, “What kind of things do we need to do to make sure Islam survives?” I figure I should answer. And the answer is: Intolerance. I’m sick of making excuses for terrible institutions, misguided leadership, and outright dangerous discourse. At the heart of Islam is the sacredness of the individual, created by God; anything other than that must be challenged, reformed, or abandoned.

Featured image courtesy of Kakhun Wart/Flickr.