WUNRN
UN Commission
on the Status of Women - Session 59 - Panel
LEBANON RELIGIOUS
LEADERS & CIVIL SOCIETY
JOIN TO ADDRESS VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN & GIRLS
March 11, 2015 – NYC
Speech of Sheikh
Abdel Halim Sharara*
In the name of
Allah the most gracious, the most merciful
Praise be to Allah who created man of the
best breed and offered us his righteous religion.
May his peace and blessings be upon his
prophets and messengers especially so the last of the prophets Mohammed and his
impeccable family.
Violence, i.e. the
use of illegitimate power to hurt the other by exploiting or harming him or by
limiting his legitimate freedom, is prohibited in religions in general, Islam
in particular in all of its ranks. This prohibition covers security, military,
political, and social violence including domestic violence and violence against
women. Religious prohibition of violence does not distinguish between strength
and weakness as long as it applies to this definition. In addition it also
prohibits moral violence, that threatens the person in his dignity, and
physical violence from the least threatening to the one endangering the
security or the life of the other.
- Islam prohibits the use of illegitimate
force “Fight them until there is no (more) tumult/misguidance, and the religion
be to God, so if they ended/ stopped, so no transgression/ violation, except on
the unjust/ oppressive.” (Quran, Baqara 193)
- Islam also prohibits any gender-based
violence “And when one of them was announced good news of {the birth of} a
female, his face becomes dark and he suppresses grief. He hides himself from
the people because of the ill of which he has been informed. Should he keep it
in humiliation or bury it in the ground? Unquestionably, evil is what they
decide.” (Quran, Nahl 58-59), “And when the girl who was buried alive was asked
for what sin she was killed.” (Quran, Takwir 8, 9)
- Islam prohibits any kind of harm to the
other “No harm nor damage in Islam.” (Hadith)
- It prohibits coercion and arbitrary
deprivation “And do not compel your young women /youths to prostitution, if
they desire chastity, to seek {thereby} the temporary interests of worldly
life.” (Quran, Nur 33), “O you who have believed, it is not lawful for you to
inherit women by compulsion. And do not make difficulties for them in order to
take {back} part of what you gave them.”(Quran, Nisa 19).
Of this religious
truth stems the role of a cleric in general, and that of a religious scholar in
the Muslim community in particular, in facing violence and refusing it
categorically in all areas in general, and the two most important of which are:
domestic violence and violence against women, as the two areas of the most
influence and the most affected in the formation of the cultural phenomena and
the shaping of public attitudes.
The role of the
religious scholar is determined by faith and legislations that constitute the
intellectual and cultural structure of the Muslim individual or society.
Playing this role is his main religious obligation that expresses his
relationship with the creator, abiding by his rules and remaining obedient to
him.
Allow me here to
stop at the use of the term religious scholar, at the Islamic level; the term
encompasses the scientific approach that determines the traits of this role and
gives it an ethical dimension far from the concept of authority. This is
different from the term clergyman that is generally linked to the concept of
authority. A Muslim religious scholar is a social position, aiming at caring
for and protecting society away from authority regardless if he is in agreement
or opposition. This represents an alternative parallel track to the
authoritarian political one; both tracks may intersect at the level of social
justice that the authority provides. It may also replace the authority temporarily
in the event the latter collapses because of an external aggression or internal
turmoil. The religious scholar position, taken from this angle, is not an
authority because this position shows an ethical commitment between the society
and the religious scholar; thus, no religious commitment leads to the creation
of an authority unless it expresses the choice of the society.
Based on this
position that introduces and integrates the religious scholar into the civil
society rather than keeping him in an obverse position to it, he starts
culturally building the society on the basis of faith and its virtuous values.
This promotes individual and public behaviors that comply with legislations.
This goes in pair of course with his role in orienting the networks of
relations and interests in harmony with the faith of society, its values, and
culture. From this wide angle, the religious scholar challenges violence in
general, domestic violence, and violence against women in particular, because
he is the most qualified to use the pedagogical and structural speech: for
people, he is the most trustworthy and they are keen on accepting what he says;
for them, he is the most authentic in society to interact with. In gaining
understanding of the thought of the Muslim community it becomes indicative that
the scholar’s role is essential; it cannot be ignored or forgotten in any
reform process aiming at extracting any form of violence in both the Muslim
society and the human society in general, especially during this very sensitive
period of time that the human civilization is going through, a period
witnessing a recrudescence of violence at all levels, regardless of the reason
behind it.
Many paradoxes may threaten the role
of the scholar, hinder his influence and confuse the interaction with him:
1- The confusion between concepts,
legislations and religious values taught by the prophets on one hand, and the
individual application of these concepts, customs and traditions by societies
associated with the religion, on the other hand has led to wrongful practices
that have negative consequences and repercussions on religion, its process, and
its implementation. This fact puts religion in a position of wrongful
accusation, prompting religious scholars to take the position of defense,
consuming their efforts, instead of fully focusing on producing an educational
and structural discourse inspired by the nobility of religion, its human depth,
and divine dimension.
Isn’t it time for the intellectual elite
and the study centers to distinguish between religion and its followers so that
we are able to draft a unifying reformatory discourse inspired by our noble and
sacred religion instead of being occupied by minor wrangles resulting from
putting the blame on religion and religious leaders for the acts of some
followers of the religion?
2- The flaw occurs in distinguishing
between the real scholars and the pretentious intruders impersonating this
trait who are undeserving of it, because the recognition as scholar is far from
applying to them simply because they do not meet the required level that
qualifies them to bear such a title. This category of people that attribute
themselves to religious scholars is a dangerous obstacle to any reform process
aiming at facing delinquency in general and violence in particular. The
recrudescence of violence today, worldwide, stems from the negative role played
by this category of people as a result of their misinterpretation of the values
set forth by religious legislations.
I think it is about time that the
religious leaders all over the word took a strict position to condemn these
intruders; they need to warn the international and Islamic societies of the
danger they represent on international security, peace and social security,
including family and women.
3- The ambiguous approach, with which the
humanitarian and international organizations tackle the issues of human rights,
children, domestic violence, violence against women and others, leads in many
cases to a confrontation between them and the religious societies. These
organizations bypass, criticize or call to ignore religions. This confuses the
role of religious scholars in the midst of these confrontations and helps
extremism prevail over their highly needed positive influence to correct any
signs of delinquency. As an example only, I will note the work method adopted
in 1995 by the fourth international conference for women in Beijing that
invited countries to “condemn violence against women and stop pretexting
customs, traditions or any religious consideration to avoid abiding by its
commitment to eradicate it”. The same applies to the March 15, 2013 declaration
that faced a great deal of opposition until the part saying “considering the
restrictions on sexual freedom and the freedom of being lesbian a kind of
violence against women“ was withdrawn. But it has insisted on the need to fight
all types of discrimination considering it as a kind of violence against women
without using religions and customs as a pretext.
In my opinion,
international and humanitarian organizations need to be aware of this
exclusionary ambiguous trend in approach to religions and work on launching
study programs and dialogue plans aiming at reviewing religious values and
concepts in a way that leads to purifying them from the visionary projections
and the inspiration of historical practices based on customs and traditions and
concepts that are not linked to religion. These organizations need as well to
be very accurate in drafting their decisions and statements based on a new
vision that helps to achieve some harmony with the religious values and
legislations. This way, scholars will be able to efficiently contribute to the
motivation of the religious society in general to adopt the humanitarian concepts
aiming at entrenching human rights, namely those related to civil status,
intimacy and in particular issues that may be risky for the family and women.
The role of
Religious Leaders and Religious Scholars was successfully tried in practical
experiences coordinated by “Abaad” association in Lebanon. The experience
started with the regional round table held on the 9th and 10th
of November 2012, under the title “Religious Leaders, What Role do They Have
in Ending Violence Against Women” which followed the seven-month long
dialogue sessions during which the problem of violence, domestic violence and
violence against women and many other issues related to family and women(
custody, guardianship, curatorship, inheritance …) were discussed by many
religious leaders, scholars, and legal experts and women organizations. All
efforts and results focused on establishing a future national work program and
we hope that “Abaad” and all participants to the program succeed in their
endeavor.
This experience has gained a great value
considering the practical and realistic results that it lead to and that can be
summarized as follows:
1. That experience has created a framework
for serious dialogue between clerics and religious scholars, lawyers / lawmen
and women's organizations, each from his position and vision, this framework
should serve as a model for communication and interaction on more than one
level.
2. This dialogue led to the discovery of
areas of intellectual and juristic intersection in all topics that were a subject
for dialogue and discussion, it was a vague and opaque area, has led to the
congruence of opinion at times and convergence in vision at others, after
discord and disparity were in dominant position.
3. That experience formed a milestone that
cannot be overlooked at any human discussion or activity that may come up in a
society with faith, creed and culture. This form of testing helps to get away
from the exclusion, which leads to a collision between the prevailing thought
and newcomer thought, paving the road for a positive interaction between the
visions and perspectives produced by the human experience on one hand and
visions and perspectives that were established by religious messages on the
other hand, without causing a cultural crisis or social confusion.
4. This experience took place in a diverse
multi-stripes and creeds community that is the Lebanese community, which
constitutes by its particularities a model that had its uniqueness, and a
reality that can be built upon. And it is not strange for the Lebanese
community to give an advanced civilizational contribution through the
production of such realistic experiences that are worth studying and emulating.
In conclusion, the
role of religious scholars expect all activists in the world, individuals, and
organizations alike to work on positive and productive assessment, to mobilize
all efforts and capacities and to remove all hindrances and obstacles in order
to establish a better world encourage human growth and success.
Thank you.
*Sheikh Abdel Halim Sharara
Counselor at the Higher Jaafari Religious
Court- Lebanon
Director General for the religious
summoning at the Higher Islamic Shiaa Council - Lebanon