RELIGION

 Religion, often blamed for domestic violence and rape in Muslim countries; however, Islam does not promote violence against women. Many view the Qur’an
as a text promoting violence and inequality, especially in the Western world where Muslims and Middle Easterners are often blamed for terrorism. The Qur’an
specifically mentions that rape is not acceptable, which means religion is not to blame for the violence occurring in Pakistan. Qur’an 24:32 says: “and force not your maids to harlotry if they desire chastity in order that you may gain in the goods of this life. And if anyone coerces them, then Allah is, in view of their coercion, oft- forgiving, most merciful.’ Particularly important in this text is that the coerced woman is forgiven for her participation in unlawful sex” (Azam 446). The Qur’an specifically states that someone should not force a woman to lose her chastity and does not place blame on the women for being raped. The Qur’an cannot be said to address directly what we mean by “rape” or to put forward any coherent doctrine on sexual violation. Thus, while classical legal doctrines concerning sexual violence may have taken their impetus from the Qur’an, they were largely the result of extra scriptural processes that occurred during the formative period of Islamic law and whose traces can be seen in the legal reports (Azam 448). Although some ancient Islamic texts may be interpreted as promoting domestic violence, Islam cannot take the blame for the severe human rights
violations occurring in Pakistan. Rehana Siddiqui addresses this issue in her work saying: “For example, in Pakistan, the process of "Islamisation" is also blamed to increase violence against women in the public and private spheres. However, it is not the religion but its misinterpretation that causes the problems about the status of women in a Muslim society” (Siddiqui 915). Siddiqui reiterates that religion is not to blame and coins the term, Islamisation. Islamisation is used as a way to blame religion for the atrocious amount of violence occurring in Pakistan. Islam is not causing or promoting domestic violence in any way and instead protests it. It is unfair and unacceptable to blame the issue of rape on
religion.