Imams condoning domestic violence and rape

A new study conducted by a Victorian Islamic group has found that some imams selectively condone breaches of Australian laws specifically designed to protect women.

Predictably, a number of prominent Australian Muslims, including Keysar Trad, have complained about a Victorian study which has found that some imams excuse rape and domestic violence within marriage, exploitation of women, welfare fraud and polygamy. But the study, produced by the Islamic Welfare Council of Victoria, seems to confirm what has been anecdotally reported for years. It would seem difficult to fault the study, which was based on extensive community consultation; interviews with police, lawyers, court staff and academics, and meetings and interviews with the Victorian Board of Imams. According to one newspaper, the 24-man board ignored or did not directly answer many of the questions put to it. No-one who has been following the issue of Islam in Australia in recent years would be surprised that the study found that some imams apply Shariah law only where it benefits men, or that they hinder police investigations of domestic violence claims, or knowingly perform polygamous marriages which permit the second wife to claim welfare payments as de factos under Australian law. Muslim communities in Western nations, aided and abetted by eager civil rights lawyers in practising “lawfare”, are well practiced at using pleas of tolerance on the part of their host nations to circumvent the intent of their Western laws.