A Sri Lankan Muslim woman is sexually abused by a man. She then complains to the police. Local mosque authorities then summon her to the mosque and beat her 100 times as a punishment for 'infidelity.' Hardly anyone covers this horrific sequence of events. Not a word from the usually vociferous Muslim social media warriors. The Non Governmental Organisations say nothing. Even the mainstream newspapers hide it away in the back pages as something not deserving of attention. Subsequently the mosque administrators are arrested but the woman is pressured to drop all charges and then mysteriously disappears. No one knows what happened to her and no one bats an eye.
Fast forward to yesterday where the Sri Lanka Thowheed Jamaath (SLTJ) organises a huge protest demanding what is essentially child marriage. The social media warriors jump into action, sharing photos, videos and news articles like there is no tomorrow. Hundreds of shares for videos and hundreds of approving messages where SLTJ spokespeople claim to be victimised and demanding no change to existing laws. They claim the move to amend laws is 'anti-Islamic' and 'anti-Muslim' and the rights of Muslim women are being deprived.
Surely there is something seriously wrong here. What if the Islamic thing to do is to actually protect women from sexual abuse, bring those who abuse women to justice and keep children safe from harm?
Fast forward to yesterday where the Sri Lanka Thowheed Jamaath (SLTJ) organises a huge protest demanding what is essentially child marriage. The social media warriors jump into action, sharing photos, videos and news articles like there is no tomorrow. Hundreds of shares for videos and hundreds of approving messages where SLTJ spokespeople claim to be victimised and demanding no change to existing laws. They claim the move to amend laws is 'anti-Islamic' and 'anti-Muslim' and the rights of Muslim women are being deprived.
Surely there is something seriously wrong here. What if the Islamic thing to do is to actually protect women from sexual abuse, bring those who abuse women to justice and keep children safe from harm?
