Purge on Muslim clerics who turn a blind eye to the abuse of women

Richard Kerbaj www.threequarksdaily.blog

Muslim scholars are to present the Government with the names of imams who are alleged by members of their own communities to have refused to help abused women. Imams are also accused of refusing to speak out against domestic abuse in their sermons because they fear losing their clerical salaries and being sacked for broaching a “taboo” subject.

Some of Britain’s most prominent moderate imams and female Muslim leaders have backed the campaign, urging the Home Office to vet more carefully Islamic spiritual leaders coming to Britain to weed out hardliners. A four-month inquiry by the Centre for Islamic Pluralism into domestic abuse has uncovered harrowing tales of women being raped, burnt by cigarettes and lashed with belts by their husbands, who believe it is their religious right to mistreat them.

At least 40 female Muslim victims and many social workers from northern England – including Bradford, Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham – were interviewed as part of the inquiry, which is expected to be published next month.

continue reading at         http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article4828349.ece