Project Sakinah: Stopping Domestic Violence

Domestic violence is an injustice that is prohibited in Islam. It has been condemned by several Muslim scholars. The translation of the famous verse 4:34 of Quran that has been used by some Muslims to justify wife beating has also been challenged by several scholars on the grounds of the alternate meaning of the word “durbahunna” and no evidence of domestic abuse in the married life of the blessed Prophet Muhammed.

There are several sayings of the blessed prophet condemning all kinds of oppression and abuse. Here are just a few of them:

1. "Do not abuse anyone, do not look down upon any good work, and when you speak to your brother, show him a cheerful face." [Sunan of Abu-Dawood, Hadith 1889]

2. "A Muslim is a brother of another Muslim, so he should not oppress him, nor should he hand him over to an oppressor..." [Sahih Bukhari, Hadith 631]

3. Anas Bin Malik reported, Allah's Apostle (SAW) said, "Help your brother, whether he is an oppressor or he is an oppressed one. People asked, "O Allah's Apostle (SAW)! It is all right to help him if he is oppressed, but how should we help him if he is an oppressor?" The Prophet (SAW) said, "By preventing him from oppressing others." [Sahih Bukhari, Hadith 633]

Here, the blessed Prophet is clearly forbidding people from abusing anybody, let alone somebody’s own spouse. He is also advocating Muslims to help oppressors by stopping them from oppressing anyone.

These and many other sayings of the blessed Prophet and the verses of Quran are beacon of lights for people who work at Project Sakinah, a national initiative of Dar al Islam. This project is not only raising awareness about the issue, but it is also building teams to combat domestic violence in various neighborhoods and communities across America. We are advocating to stop and prevent domestic violence through actions taken by family members, community and institutions. There are three simple steps to do this: Wake Up, Speak Up, Team Up.

The simple philosophy behind these steps is driven from the famous Hadith of the blessed Prophet in which he is reported to have said: "If one of you sees something wrong, let him change it with his hand; if he cannot, then with his tongue; if he cannot, then with his heart and this is the weakest faith."

In our opinion, just being aware and doing nothing about domestic violence is the symbol of the weakest faith. Speaking against it is better and teaming up to combat it is the best.

At Project Sakinah, we also believe that in this fast pace, high-tech media world, people’s attention can easily be diverted to another issue in a matter of minutes. People may get excited about one thing for a couple of days and they may not even remember about it a week later.

Many of us remember a cartoon character campaign on Facebook from last year. Tens of thousands of people changed their profile picture to their favorite cartoon character. The idea was that by changing pictures, they would be raising awareness about child abuse. When in reality, many of them were merely talking about their favorite cartoons. At the same time, several other people were asking how it was actually going to stop child abuse.

Raising awareness about domestic violence is also similar, whether it is through wearing purple ribbon or hijabs; through holding a seminar, a conference or a workshop; through organized walks; or through online activism. Unfortunately, it alone is not effective in combating violence unless it is followed by some form of actions by people.

This is why, Project Sakinah is focusing on actual mobilization and organization of community members to address this issue. Stopping domestic violence needs consistent efforts and solid actions taken by not only professionals and parties involved directly, but also by family members, community, faith-based organizations, etc.

Through grassroots efforts, we are hoping to introduce pre-marital counseling, couplehood trainings, anger management workshops and several other programs to various communities, mosques and Islamic centers as preventive measures. We are also engaging community members in dialogues about their matrimonial choices, the concept of manhood and womanhood and the role of their mosques and families in shaping these perceptions.

We are urging everyone to join hands with us. This is a community project. Its success lies in the community’s hands and the rewards are only with Allah. As the blessed prophet said:

“…Whoever fulfilled the needs of his brother, Allah will fulfill his needs; whoever brought his (Muslim) brother out of a discomfort, Allah will bring him out of the discomforts of the Day of Resurrection, and whoever screened a Muslim, Allah will screen him on the Day of Resurrection." [Sahih Bukhari, Hadith 631]

You may join Project Sakinah through these links: Website,  Facebook, Twitter.