If the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse revelations shocked you, then you’re dangerously ignorant to reality. According to RAINN, an American is assaulted every 98 seconds, one out of every six women will deal with rape or attempted rape in her lifetime, and 90 per cent of rape victims are women.

I’m a Muslim, and a civil rights lawyer with a special interest in advocating for women’s rights. My advocacy is informed not just by the law, but by strategies detailed in Islamic teachings and Prophet Muhammad’s example to pre-empt sexual abuse. Yes, the cancer of sexual abuse against women that we see in Christian majority America is just as prevalent in Muslim majority Pakistan, but also in Hindu majority India and state atheist China. This proves that men worldwide are failing in our responsibility to end sexual abuse and gender based violence.

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A Christian’s critique of this article:

Would the teachings of Islam really prevent sexual abuse scandals?

The Muslim Times’ Chief Editor’s comments:

We believe that we have to learn from the goodness of all traditions and every religion. Islam, Christianity and the Western civilization have all great things to offer regarding women’s rights.

At the same time we believe that the holy Quran is the word of All Knowing God, but should not be understood in the context of the seventh century Arabia, rather in the context of the 21st century global village: God Is Living, So Why Does Religion Treat God As Dead?

It seems both the Muslim writer and the Christian critic are cherry picking and not presenting a comprehensive view.

As Muslims, we cannot give lip service to women rights and then go around and try to implement strictest understanding of Hijab and modest dressing, segregation of sexes and other so called Islamic teachings, to the detriment of the Muslim women, in our societies and countries. We need to precisely define women rights as we understand them in the light of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Before we hold mirror to the Western civilization, we need to define what we believe in. No Muslim scholar has ever comprehensively defined as to how the Muslim women can be professors, lawyers, judges, CEOs, journalists, prime ministers and presidents and astronauts yet be good Muslims, and how can we move the so called Muslim countries and the Western countries towards that vision.