The Preservation Of The Islamic Tradition And How Current Organizations Seek To Prevent Exploitation Of Sacred Texts And Religious Authority Spiritual Abuse And Sexual Abuse Within The Islamic Community

Author

Misbah Awan, Bard CollegeFollow

Date of Submission

Spring 2020

Academic Program

Sociology

Project Advisor 1

Peter Klein

Abstract/Artist's Statement

This research project focuses on the ways in which spiritual abuse and sexual abuse show up in religious communities, specifically within the Islamic context. It is important to speak about the spiritual abuse and sexual abuse that happens within the Islamic communities because, while a faith can be percieved to be perfect theoretically, it can be practiced and implemented in improrer ways. The tradition of the faith can be lost along the way due to personal interpretations and decontextualization of religious sacred texts, which is what is meant by spiritual abuse. When these two are paired with abuse, especially when vulnerable subjects are involved, there is an obvious disconnect that occurs between oneself and their faith. A person’s own psyche can be influenced negatively by such an experience, causing them to understandably isolate and orient themselves away from the problem at hand. Why is there an abuse of spirituality and sexual abuse within faith-based systems? What is the exact disconnect to explain why this is happening specific to Islamic communities? What can a sociologist say about the topic after close analysis and how can one frame the context? In the case of such a tender matter, it becomes urgent to find a solution to such a (unfortunately common) humanitarian issue. The importance of this study is focused on how three main organizations approach the issue of spiritual abuse and sexual abuse within the Islamic context. This project will not only highlight the problem at hand, but will aim to center what action-based solutions are being implemented to counteract the sexual as well as spiritual abuse happening via the analysis of two main different organizations.

Open Access Agreement

Open Access

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Awan, Misbah, "The Preservation Of The Islamic Tradition And How Current Organizations Seek To Prevent Exploitation Of Sacred Texts And Religious Authority Spiritual Abuse And Sexual Abuse Within The Islamic Community" (2020). Senior Projects Spring 2020. 256.
https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/senproj_s2020/256