Atif Rashid, UK
The debate around “grooming gangs” and sexual exploitation often centres around culture and misogyny. A sexualised culture seeped with misogynistic attitudes is indeed a major cause for the prevailing issue of child sexual exploitation.
Nowadays though, Islam is being blamed for a string of child sexual abuse scandals that shocked Britain in the last few decades. But far from being a cause or a motivation, Islam is actually the antithesis to sexual impropriety, and, in fact, carries the antidote to such crimes.
Around 1 in 20 children in the United Kingdom has been sexually assaulted, according to the child protection charity, the NSPCC. Most of the abuse takes place by family members with girls as the primary victims. In the United States, 93% of victims know the perpetrator, while that figure is 90% in the UK. Abuse happens in a vast range of settings including institutions like schools and public buildings, family or relatives’ homes or sports facilities. This is a wide-ranging problem which exists in every strata of society.
The process of “grooming” takes place often on a systematic level, with institutions potentially complicit. Perpetrators attempt to “groom” victims to ensure their compliance and silence. This can be through rewards, favouritism and the normalisation of abuse.
There have been thousands of cases of sexual abuse in the UK over the decades involving gangs, public figures and ordinary people. In 2022, the police received 107,000 reports of sexual assault against children. This is quadruple of what it was a decade ago.
A Home Office report in 2020 said that such offenders come from “diverse cultures” and that this crime is not exclusive to any specific ethnicity or race.
The report said that “no one community or culture is uniquely predisposed to offending” and that any over-representation of Asian and Black offenders was relative to the population in that specific area, while most offenders were actually white.
Religious motives?
None of the studies recently published about group-based sexual abuse mentions religion either as a motivation for abuse nor does it use faith as a means of identification of the offenders. This is because there is literally no link to religion.
Much of the motivation was about money and sex. The aforementioned report said the primary motivation was sexual gratification, sometimes justified by “erroneous references to cultural norms”. It went so far as to condemn those who suggested that such crimes were linked to “South Asian” culture.
The Home Office report in 2020 quoted another report in 2013 which stated:
“A simplistic view that the mere fact of being ‘Asian’ is in itself explanatory of their behaviour, is dangerous not only because it is unjust and offensive to the wider community who share a South East Asian heritage. It is also dangerous because such simplistic presumptions represent a meaningless over-generalisation, that is positively unhelpful if we wish to understand why these men behaved in the way they did and therefore help to protect other potential victims. Such an approach fails to consider the combination of personal, cultural and opportunistic factors that are understood to create the conditions for sexual offending.” (Griffiths, S., 2013, The overview report of the serious case review in respect of Young People 1,2,3,4,5 and 6. Rochdale Borough Safeguarding Children Board)
The suggestion that religion was a factor in the perpetration of these crimes is so outlandish that it’s not even worthy of being taken seriously. It certainly wasn’t by independent investigators or the government.
But opportunists who seek to defame Islam see such scandals as a way of demonising Muslims and “proof” that Islam is “backwards” or “oppressive”. It’s a long and tired trope to paint Muslims as “barbaric” and “uncivilised”.
One of the cases which received the most attention in recent years was the Rotherham child sexual abuse scandal. Between 1997-2013, groups of Pakistani men systematically raped or sexually abused 1400 girls. It was a sickening and grotesque string of sexual crimes.
Islam on covering up crimes
There have been reports that some authorities were hesitant to pursue the case out of fear of being labelled as “racist”. Victims were also dissuaded from reporting their abuse for fear of “tarnishing” the reputation of the community or Islam.
The covering up of a crime is a disservice to the victims and Islam teaches one to pursue justice without fear or favour. The Holy Quran states:
“O ye who believe! be strict in observing justice, and be witnesses for Allah, even though it be against yourselves or against parents and kindred. Whether he be rich or poor, Allah is more regardful of them both than you are. Therefore follow not low desires so that you may be able to act equitably. And if you conceal the truth or evade it, then remember that Allah is well aware of what you do.” (Surah an-Nisa, Ch.4: V.136)
Besides, Muslims in the town themselves were outraged at the idea that this cover-up took place in the name of Islam. Muhbeen Hussain, founder of the Rotherham Muslim Group said: “There is nothing in the Pakistani or Muslim culture or Islamic faith that condones such actions […] we are asking for prosecutions […] it is disgusting that the social services and police services didn’t act […] if it was a drug dealer on the street, would the police services not arrest them because of racism or community cohesion? I think it is completely ludicrous.”
When Muslims in the town themselves condemned both the crime and the cover-up, then why is this question coming back to the surface? This case is only being highlighted now by far-right figures because it’s a convenient way to attack immigrants, Asians and even Islam.
A British Pakistani Muslim problem?
On Piers Morgan Uncensored, a commentator falsely claimed that “Islam is conducive to paedophilia.” Morgan described it as a problem of “British Pakistani Muslims.”
Andrew Neil even called on leaders from the British Pakistani Muslim community to condemn the Rotherham abuse scandal. What, a decade later? Convenient isn’t it? We’re still waiting for him to condemn the Catholic Church abuse, the KKK and the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers.
It’s an absolutely absurd premise to expect an entire race, religion or community to condemn the actions of a few individuals. Tarring all Muslims with the same brush is such a tired and worn-out trope that one yawns at how it’s being trotted out again. You’d think 24 years after 9/11 when all Muslims were asked to distance themselves from the terrorists, our public discourse would have developed and progressed into a rational and civilised debate. One can only hope and pray.
The default reaction of any group when some of its members commit crimes is always shock, disbelief and disgust. Why is it assumed that all Muslims are either guilty of the same crime or at least sympathetic towards the perpetrators? If that’s the case, then more than 80% of sexual abuse in the UK is committed by white men. Does anyone ask the entire white population to condemn such acts? Or do we naturally assume they already do? That assumption should be greater for Muslims considering that their faith actively teaches against such evil crimes.
How Islam tackles the very root of the “grooming” problem
The perpetrators of sexual crimes often use drugs and alcohol to sexually exploit young girls. Those with the most basic understanding of Islam know that alcohol is forbidden in the religion as are intoxicants.
In Islam, the dignity, freedom and respect of women and girls is considered a fundamental God-given right that no human being can take away. Islam honours women like no other faith before it has. The Holy Prophet of Islam, Muhammadsa, told Muslims that their entry into Heaven is conditional on their good treatment of their mother. On raising their daughters with love and care. On keeping their hands, eyes and hearts pure from illicit thoughts and glances. “Allah knows full well what is in your hearts,” Muslims are told throughout the Holy Quran.
In Chapter 4, Verse 21 of the Holy Quran, it says: “Say to the believing men that they restrain their eyes and guard their private parts. That is purer for them. Surely, Allah is well aware of what they do.”
When Muslims refuse to shake hands with women, they are criticised and lambasted for such an “insult” – what kind of misogyny is this, it is asked. But the same people who would criticise Muslims for not shaking hands with women, are now attacking Islam for “advocating” child sexual abuse. They know Islam forbids any physical contact with unrelated members of the opposite sex, yet they claim sexual abuse is sanctioned by it. This is where Islam’s extreme caution when it comes to sexual matters is to be commended. Islam seeks to root out evil from its very inception, so it forbids men from looking at, let alone touching women.
Purification of the self is Islam’s purpose
The entire philosophy of Islam is built around purifying one’s heart and mind from illicit thoughts and feelings. “Allah loves those who purify themselves,” the Holy Quran says. (Surah at-Taubah, Ch.9: V.108) Carnal passions are antithetical to the spiritual life Islamic teachings prepare you for. The entire purpose of the Islamic faith is to free one from the shackles of worldly and carnal passions and desires and adopt the higher noble ideas of patience, faith, restraint and resolve. Muslims are commanded to go an entire month without food, drink and sexual relations during the daylight hours. A religion which teaches such restraint and discipline to its followers is not going to be sanctioning sexual abuse. For a devout Muslim, even looking at an unrelated woman would be a sin he would profusely seek forgiveness from God for.
Further, Islam views sexual relations outside of marriage as a major sin and a grave evil in society. It mandates the consent of both parties when contracting a marriage.
The Holy Quran says: “O ye who believe! It is not lawful for you to inherit women against their will”. (Surah an-Nisa, Ch.4: V.20) Another verse (Surah al-Ma‘idah, Ch.5: V.6) obligates Muslims to marry properly and not commit adultery or fornication.
Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih Vaa said: “Let me make it categorically clear that any Muslim who violates the honour of a woman or abuses her in any way is acting entirely against Islam’s teachings. Islam considers such behaviour as evil and has mandated exceptionally strong punishments for those guilty of such immoral and reprehensible crimes.”
Severity of Islamic penal code on such issues
The Islamic penal code, mention of which can be found in verses such as Surah al-Ma’idah, Ch.5: V34, is especially severe in cases of highwaymen, bandits, rapists, terrorists or other group-based violence and abuse in which the law and order of the nation is at stake. The judge has the option of capital punishment, banishment or another exemplary punishment.
If those who accuse Islam of facilitating such abuse are so concerned about the suffering of innocent girls, why do they focus on their faith or ethnicity? Why not on the victims?
Faith and race are only brought in when far-right figures sense an opportunity to malign Islam and attack Muslims. Otherwise, why was Jimmy Saville, a man who systematically abused children in hospitals and studies, not labelled a “white Christian”? He described himself as a devout Catholic and was honoured with a papal knighthood. Is there anything more “Christian” than that? If Islam is blamed for such evils, then the Catholic Church’s sexual abuse scandal and the Orthodox Haredi Jewish community’s abuse in New York should be labelled as a “Jewish” or “Christian” problem. These double standards reveal a hatred towards Islam and prejudice towards Muslims.
More than anything, Islamic principles serve as an antidote to the scourge of sexual violence and abuse. Far from being the cause of such crimes, Islam is a cure to the sexualisation, disrespect and objectification of women which is rampant in societies in which such abuse takes place.