Islam Does Not Condone Domestic Violence: Forum
Nuha Adlan, Arab News
RIYADH, 8 May 2008 — A two-day conference on domestic violence ended
yesterday with
participants saying there is no justification in Islam for abuse of women
and children. They
also came up with a list of demands and recommendations to tackle the
problem.
Experts from across the Kingdom participated in five sessions of
discussions at the first
National Experts Meeting to Fight Domestic Abuse Against Women and
Children, with all
participants agreeing that Islam does not condone abuse and that the
problem should be brought
to an end.
“Traditions that allow abuse should be brought to an end,” said Dr. Maha
Al-Munief, executive
director of the National Family Safety Program (NFSP), which organized the
event. “We will
start training courses for people who work with abuse victims... We need
cooperation from all
NGOs,” she said in a press conference held to announce the
recommendations.
One of the forum participants, who asked her name not be published, said,
“Why do we have to
wait until a crime happens and someone dies? Why can’t we interfere early.
Privacy is not an
excuse for our silence.”
Dr. Hissa Al-Alsheikha, a board member of the NFSP, said there are no
proper statistics about
the problem and all available figures are inaccurate.
“Although nothing is 100 percent true, one thing is very clear: Abuse has
become a
phenomenon... if one has an inclination to it, he will find an excuse to
abuse someone,” she said.
The recommendations, which comprise 21 articles, included a suggestion for
the need to have a
clear fatwa about the topic that would serve as a legal basis to approach
a court. The fatwa
would also serve to disprove misconceptions that Islam sanctions abuse of
one’s family members.
“We aim to set up a national strategy to minimize the effects of domestic
abuse,” said
Al-Munief. “We want NGOs to come forward in sup****t of the program... We
want women and
children to know their rights and ask for them.”
Dr. Majid Al-Essa, head of the Medical Section at NFSP, said that it is
the foremost
responsibility of every individual to help change the mindset accepts
abuse. “People must
realize that they need to change,” she said.
“The language of violence that was claimed to be religion should be
corrected,” she said. “We
need to criminalize violence and all kinds of abuse... There is nothing on
earth that justifies
abuse.”
The forum was inaugurated by Princess Adela bint Abdullah on Tuesday.
“Abuse of women and
children is a real threat to the stability of our society. It is a
worrying universal
phenomenon, not just a local one,” she said in her opening speech.
Speakers in Tuesday’s session included Sheikh Salman Al-Odah, supervisor
of the Islam Today
website, and Dr. Suhail Zain Al-Abideen, head of the Women’s Section at
the National Society
for Human Rights.
The participants stressed the need for enacting clear rules against
domestic violence and
discussed such varied issues as punishments for perpetrators and agencies
responsible for
handling complaints.
http://www.arabnews.com
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