by Hina Latif – an adjunct professor of sociology.

“Muslim men are allowed to rape non-Muslim women to ‘humiliate’ them.”
Professor Saud Saleh, from the prestigious Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt made this demoralizing statement during an interview on Al-Hayat TV while stating that rape is allowed, in Islam, and “legitimate” during a war. The history of rape within war zones is one of the most heinous war crimes used as a source weapon. While referencing the devastating crisis of the Yazidi people trapped in war zones due to conflict brought on by Daesh, Professor Saleh’s justification of rape as permissible within Islam is a baseless accusation.Islam does not permit any human to demoralize and subjugate another for their pleasure regardless of the social or political environments,or for any other reason. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community condemns this immoral act as an oppressive and un-Islamic method of carrying out war tactics. As Muslims, who believe in the Messiah, the message of universal human rights, inclusive to protecting the rights of minorities, is one of the central points of the Messiah’s message of peace and justice for all humanity.
Universities should be a source of truth and empowerment for their students, not inflammatory statements that poison young minds.The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community believes that the failures to address concerns of such extremist ideologies are breeding grounds for radicalization. To combat radical perspectives, it is essential to learn more about Islam and its core principles through the True Islam and The Extremists campaign. These 11 points represent true Islam from extremists’ convictions and address the concern for equality and human rights for men and women alike. The True Islam campaign also illuminates the belief in the equality, education, and empowerment of women as taught by the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

The statement by the Islamic Professor is highly controversial because it challenges the teachings of Islam through the perspectives of universal human rights and treatment towards women; both of which are clarified in the True Islam Campaign. This radical view lacks in depth understanding of the Holy Quran and its true teachings of maintaining rights over Muslim and non-Muslim women. Professor Saleh’s statement contradicts the Holy Quran and The Prophet Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) teachings regarding equality between men and women. The Holy Quran states, “O ye who believe! It is not lawful for you to inherit women against their will” (4:20); a direct statement from the Quran that explicitly denies men to inherit women against their will. The verse explicitly recognizes the statement professed by Professor Saleh in her justification of allowing men to rape within war zones to be a misleading and incorrect statement. In reviewing the conduct of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), he stated, “In no case shall you use deceit, nor shall you kill any child.” He further instructed his troops “do not molest the harmless inmates of domestic seclusion or people devoted to any religion, spare the women, children, and old people.” Based on the teachings of the Holy Quran and the practices of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), we can conclude that Islam surely does not give anyone the right to rape women under any circumstance.

Rape against women is used as a source of power and control and has nothing to with Islam let alone any religion. The misguided behavior is to be corrected wholly by all Muslims to preserve the accurate teachings of Islam. The time is now for society as a whole to reject and correct the radical perspectives even those of an “Islamic professor”. The True Islam campaign believes that the failures to address concerns of such extremist ideologies are breeding grounds for radicalization and invite everyone to unite against extremism at TrueIslam.com
Hina Latif is an adjunct professor of sociology. She can be found @hinaltf.

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