[Umm Binyameen]

Lay Off Our Imams and Women
Br. Abdul-Latif Halimi

'SOME Muslim religious leaders in Victoria are condoning rape within marriage, domestic violence, polygamy, welfare fraud and exploitation of women, according to an explosive report on the training of imams.' - The Age, 21/11/2008, Local Muslim Clerics Accused, Barney Zwartz

To oversimplify complicated issues, and readily point to the harmless scapegoat, works very well with the ill-informed. To paint a cloud over the head of a whole community and their religious leaders, by using catching soundbites and sensationalising small or isolated happenings, is something the Muslims of Australia have come well used to.

The 'explosive report' presented at the NCEIS Conference, an event I was scheduled to present at until illness prevented me, is an example of the pebbles we have had thrown at us for the last half-decade. While I do not doubt the sincerity and integrity of those who put together this report, May Allah reward them, many have taken great issue with the nature of the report and the overbearing sensationalism of what the media and wider-public has done with some parts of it.

Firstly, and before evaluating some elements of this report, it must be understood that this is a decentralised community where no single authority, individual, organisation or umbrella group can claim representation of the Muslim body in Australia. The depth of Islam, that binds the Muslim community together, only adds to the cultural, intellectual and social diversity and differences of Muslims. To therefore paint the entire Muslim canvas with any individual and isolated social opinion or religious verdict is as oppressive as associating an entire population with the act of a single person. Therefore, a proper diagnosis and solution must deal with the broad Islamic constants, laws and principles, not isolated and individualised expressions of them. But even then, there are matters that no Imam has directly or indirectly condoned - such as rape, domestic violence, fraud or the exploitation of women. If there does happen to be such a case, then it must be raised to the relevant authorities so that it can be dealt with properly and legally, not splashed across the Australian media in the form of irresponsible and frenzied journalism fed by those who repeatedly forget how vulnerable their community is in the public eye. Clothed community problems are to remain within the community when it is not necessary for the wider public to know.

Undoubtedly there are crimes being practiced against Muslim women in Australia; they must be condemned and those who practice them must be brought to account. However, these are not representative of Muslims and exclusive to those who adopt the Islamic faith, but rather of society as a whole. Therefore those who spread the word about these crimes must take into account the prevalence of these problems in wider society and not personalise or associate them as Muslim or Islamic problems, for they are not. These crimes ultimately come down to the individual and their choices, not an entire section of the community.

On the other hand, a particular topic that often comes up is polygamy, which by virtue of being illegal, is impossible to practice in Australia. Under Australian law, marriage is defined as the union of a single man and a single woman to the exclusion of all others – a man cannot register two marriages in Australia, hence polygamy is impossible. If, however, the law's interpretation of 'marriage' is a man's undivided loyalty to a single woman to the exclusion of all others, physically, mentally and emotionally, then let it be known that de facto has overtaken de jure (the law) in every Australian street. All Muslim men do is add a spiritual element, in the form of a bond which is already rendered obsolete and worthless under Australian law, to what is already being widely practiced all over the country.

A furore over Muslim men taking multiple partners can only be taken seriously when it is a universal one that rains over every man who has more than one woman in his life. Until the Commonwealth passes legislation forbidding any multiplicity of relations between men and women, no Muslim man is doing anything wrong under Australian Law. For us Muslims to then create a culture of guilt and push it towards a man who takes another domestic partner besides his first wife, which Allah (swt) allows and Australian Law doesn't even deal with, is quite unfortunate. Perhaps someone can look a fourty year old pious and virgin sister in the eye and tell her that she'll never have a man in her life because all those around her are already married. We are not people of mistresses and fornication, so let there be mercy and perspective when dealing with this problem.

If government and public opinion want to oversee and regulate Islamic legal practice in the Muslim community, let them sponsor and legitimise the establishment of Shari'ah Courts for matters relating to family, marital and financial law. At least in that case those who rely on Islamic law to dictate their personal lives - outside what is exclusive to Australian law and the judicial process - can rely on an official arbitrary body that is accountable to effective internal and external systems. By default, this officially recognised body, which would combine between scholarly understanding of Islamic Law and the accountability of coherence, will become the first option for Australian Muslims and weed out illegitimate rulings that do not carry scholarly merit. Just as Jewish Beth Din courts are allowed to handle civil legal cases in the U.K and the United States, Shari'ah courts can work in Australia.

But until there is evidence that a far-reaching trend in the Muslim community is a direct consequence of Islamic teaching and the encouragement of Imams, this problem ought to be dealt with from a standard legal and sociological perspective like any other community. This case and those like it should not be paraded and showcased in front of everyone and be associated with this community's religious leaders just because they make for easy scapegoats. I agree that not enough is being done by most Imams to help the Muslim community reduce such problems within it ranks, but that doesn't mean that they, by default, are encouraging such actions. If there are such cases, May Allah (swt) protect us, then let these Imams be reported to those who can do something about it.

Grouping all Imams together and turning them into community piñatas by letting their reputation be tarnished, at the hand of loosely-moderated information released to the media, is not the right way to go about it. Obviously our Imams are not above error and weakness, but to sweepingly claim they are condoning rape, polygamy, fraud and violence is wrong. To throw the brunt of what may happen to Muslim women on the shoulders of these Imams is also wrong, and our women will be the first to say it.