It is with the deepest sorrow that Peaceful Families Project respectfully acknowledges the death by domestic homicide of Alwiya Mohamed, age 20, by her husband with her one year-old son in the home. We ask that Allah (swt) raise her to the highest levels of paradise and grant relief to her family who remain with us on earth including her orphaned son.
In the past six weeks PFP is aware of four separate incidents of domestic homicide/suicide in the US Muslim community. The victims were all women. The victims were married, separated and divorced. Some had children, some did not. Some had family support, some did not. Some had legal orders of protection, some did not. Some sought services some did not. Some were younger, some were older. Some were well educated, some were not. Some wore hijab, some did not. Some were immigrants to the US, some were not. While we as a community need to have better options for victims, there appears to be no pattern, no insured safety net, no way to predict or protect the lives of our precious sisters.
The perpetrators however were all self-identified observant Muslim men.
It is time for us to shift the focus of our work in Muslim communities to examine the messages we propoagate to these perpetrators and to those who may follow. To explain to our sons, brothers, fathers and uncles that to wage war against the women of their families was not ordained as a leadership practice in the life of our Prophet (PBUH). That marriage was never meant to be a prison of oppression, but instead a place to build peace with love and mutual respect. That the path of Allah (swt), represented in the faith of Islam, calls them to guide and protect the treasures they have been given in their wives, children, sisters, and mothers so that we may all be blessed at the end of our lives with peace in paradise. Ameen.
إِنَّا ِلِلَّٰهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ
Surely we belong to Allah and to him we shall return
In the past six weeks PFP is aware of four separate incidents of domestic homicide/suicide in the US Muslim community. The victims were all women. The victims were married, separated and divorced. Some had children, some did not. Some had family support, some did not. Some had legal orders of protection, some did not. Some sought services some did not. Some were younger, some were older. Some were well educated, some were not. Some wore hijab, some did not. Some were immigrants to the US, some were not. While we as a community need to have better options for victims, there appears to be no pattern, no insured safety net, no way to predict or protect the lives of our precious sisters.
The perpetrators however were all self-identified observant Muslim men.
It is time for us to shift the focus of our work in Muslim communities to examine the messages we propoagate to these perpetrators and to those who may follow. To explain to our sons, brothers, fathers and uncles that to wage war against the women of their families was not ordained as a leadership practice in the life of our Prophet (PBUH). That marriage was never meant to be a prison of oppression, but instead a place to build peace with love and mutual respect. That the path of Allah (swt), represented in the faith of Islam, calls them to guide and protect the treasures they have been given in their wives, children, sisters, and mothers so that we may all be blessed at the end of our lives with peace in paradise. Ameen.
إِنَّا ِلِلَّٰهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ
Surely we belong to Allah and to him we shall return