বাংলাদেশে মাদ্রাসা শিক্ষকদের দ্বারা মেয়েদের যৌন নির্যাতন এবং বাল্যবিবাহ সত্যিকারের সমস্যা নাকি শুধুই গুজব?

1. Almost every day in Bangladesh a girl is raped by her Madrasa teacher. You only need to read the headlines to know how freely our Madrasah teachers are raping young girls and even killing them. According to Dhaka Tribune in February 2024, five madrasa teachers raped a minor girl.[1]Madras Teacher rapes 12 year old girl.[2] Maulavi arrested for rape of 10 year old girl . Madrasa teacher arrested for raping student in Kurigram.[3] Madrasa teacher arrested for raping student in Kurigram.[4] Bangladeshis speak up about 'rampant' rapes in Islamic schools.[5]

2. I can continue listing headline after headline, and I invite you to read the links on my website to the widespread and rampant rape of young girls, some orphan and young as 7 and 11 years old, raped and killed. The tragedy is that these rapes are not committed by ordinary people but the servants of Allah, the qari, the alim, the hafiz. It is so bad that not even boys are spared.

3. But it does not end there. It get even worse when you read about the child marriage statistics. This is even worse because in child marriage case the girl has to endure being raped every day and made to bear a child at an age when she herself is a child!

4. In September 2021, according to Dhaka Tribune, [6] In September 2021, 3,000 girls became child brides in Khulna during the pandemic. The Dhaka Tribune reported 751 cases of child marriage in Dumuria Upazila, 681 in Koira, 483 in Paikgachha, 291 in Dakop, 217 in Rupsa, 158 in Sadar Upazila, 149 in Terkhada, 240 in Phultala, 33 in Batiaghataj, and six in Dighlia.

5. According to the Daily Star [7] in October 2021, at least 11,000 schoolgirls were married off by their families between March 17, 2020 and September 12, 2020 this year. The Daily Star also reported the figure of 3,000 in Khulna, but said, “In Bagerhat, the number of infected people has exceeded that of Khulna.

6. According to Manusher Jonno Foundation, [8] In 2018, at least 271 children were raped and subjected to sexual and physical abuse. at least 271 children lost their lives after they were raped and made victims of sexual and physical abuse in 2018. They said about 1,006 children were raped and were subjected to attempted abduction and other abuse. In addition, Manusher Jonno Foundation found that 129 children were physically or psychologically abused by their teachers in 2018. This includes 70 who were physically abused, 33 who were sexually abused, and 17 were raped. According to the Manusher Jonno Foundation, said 626 children were raped from January to December in 2020. These are just figures for reported cases.

7. The Question is why? I am an Alim and I have spent my childhood days in Masjids and Madrasas. Yes, I cannot deny that in Madrasas there is a problem. But it is of a different kind. They mostly tend to sexually abuse boys in their care. It is not a secret, and I have covered this in another article. My question in this article is why do they target girls, knowing it is the worst kind of sin in Allah’s sight? I mean from all the knowledge I have gained, what I know about the importance of a qari, hazif, or alim are the following:

a) We are considered by our community as God fearing and sinless servants of Allah, dedicated to the cause of Islam.

b) There are hadith from our Prophet (PBUH) which say a Quran teacher can take 10 members of his family to Heaven because he has memorised the Quran. Here is the full hadith:

” “The bearer of the Quran, if he regards what it permits as halal and what it forbids as haram, he will intercede for ten of his family members on the Day of Resurrection, all of whom deserved to enter Hell. ” (Narrated by Al-Bayhaqi in Shu’ab al-Eemaan from Jabir).

However, what I have discovered is that this is not a true hadith but a false [9] hadith. What this means is that our Quran scholars are deceiving villagers into believing that they are so powerful that they can take 10 members of their family with them to heaven. According to Islam Question and Answer [10] , this was narrated by al-Bayhaqi in Shuab al-Eemaan (The Branches of Faith) from Jaabir; it was classed as weak (daeef) by al-Albaani in Daeef al-Jaami.

c) We are taught that for the Quran teacher who has memorised the Quran, the Quran will intercede for him on the Day of Judgement, because the Prophet (PBUH) said:

“Fasting and the Quran will intercede for a person on the Day of Judgement. Fasting will say, ‘O Lord, I deprived him of food and desires during the day, so let me intercede for him. ’ The Quran will say, ‘O Lord I deprived him of his sleep at night, so let me intercede for him. ’ Then they will both intercede for him.” (Narrated by Ahmad, , al-Tabaraani and Al-Haakim; classed as Sahih (authentic) ” ( Narrated by Ahmad, al-Tabaraani and Al-Haakim; classed as Sahih (authentic) by Al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami’, no. 3882 )

8. Because of this culture of belief that Quran teachers are angels of Allah, and the other fears I have listed, Quran teachers are freely raping young girls every day in Bangladesh in the name Allah and Islam. Most of these girls come from poor families. Their parents are mostly poor people who work in the fields.

9. These poor villagers place all their trust in these people. But what many do not know is that:

Abdullah ibn Amr reported, [11] : The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, “Verily, most of the hypocrites of my Ummah are among those who have memorised Quran .” (Musnad Ahmad 6455, classed as Sahih (authentic according to Al-Arna’ut).

10. What the Prophet (PBUH) is saying is that most of the Quran scholars are hypocrites. Despite knowing the Quran, they abuse the Quran. That is what makes most of them hypocrites. So no matter what these Quran teachers think about the Quran interceding for them on the Day of Judgment, the Quran will not save them from burning in hell because most of the hypocrites in Islam are among those who have memorised Quran.

11. In our country our Islamic scholars use following Hadith to say why it is acceptable for men to marry underage girls:

It was narrated from Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) married her when she was six years old and he consummated his marriage when she was nine years old, and she remained with him for nine years (i.e. until his death) - (Sahih al-Bukhari 5133).

Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) married her when she was six years old and he consummated his marriage when she was nine years old. Hisham (RA) said, I have been informed that Aisha (RA) was with the Prophet (PBUH) for nine years (i.e. until his death). (Sahih al-Bukhari 5144).

PAEDOPHILIA

12. Paedophilia is recognised as a mental disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) . [12] The International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) [13] also accepts it as a mental disorder.

13. It is classified as a mental disorder in which an adult or older person experiences a sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of puberty at age 10 or 11, and boys at age 11 or 12, the criteria for paedophilia covers anyone under the age of 13. A person must be at least 16 years old, and at least five years older than the prepubescent child, for the attraction to be diagnosed as paedophilia. [14]

14. There is no question that what many of our Quran scholars are engaged in is paedophilia because these child brides as young girls.

15. However, what I want to say is that there is a difference between the marriage of our Prophet (PBUH) to Hazrat Aisha, and Madrasa teachers raping young girls. There is no question that if our Prophet (PBUH) was alive today, he would be killed or jailed if he married a 6 or 9 year old girl because it is a mental disorder and crime in even Bangladesh. But, what the Prophet (PBUH) did, he did with the permission of Allah at the time. But, times have changed, and now it is a crime to sexually abuse girls. Islam needs to respond to social understanding of the time about sex and age of marriage because our religion is a complete way of life.

WAS HAZRAT AISHA 9 OR OLDER – THE BIG DEBATE AMONGS SCHOLARS

16. But the big debate is the questions, was Hazrat Aisha actually 9 years old when the Prophet (PBUH) consummated the marriage or was she much older? There are differences of opinion on this but I tend to agree with the views that suggest she was much older. For example, aaccording to Islam Buhairy [15] said :

“The correct age of Aisha when she married the prophet was 18 years old and not 9 years old. The narration reported by Bukhari is simply a corrupt one. It violates the law of God, common sense, tradition and culture, and even other Hadith! It also contradicts the chronological order of the events during the prophetic mission. It is thus inconceivable and unjustified to elevate the words of Bukhari above the integrity of the beloved messenger!

Islam is not to be monopolised by the early scholars and Hadith narrators, nor related to their time only. It is our right and duty to evaluate their findings and criticise and also reject much of their findings which are found to be fabricated delusions! At the end of the day, these works are no more than human efforts and thus should never be granted sanctity or divinity.”

Islam Buhairy [16] also said :

“It is also narrated in the collection of Bukhari that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, ‘A virgin should not be married without her consent.’ They said, ‘And how can her consent be ascertained?’ He replied, 'If she remains silent.' The question here is: How could the Holy Prophet say one thing when he did the opposite? This is relevant considering that according to another Hadith in Bukhari, he quotes Aisha as saying that she was playing with dolls among other girls and no one asked her consent and permission to marry the Prophet! Realistically speaking, how is it possible to ask a child about marriage when she does not understand the meaning of marriage! Even at that age her consent would not be considered valid because it would be a consent without a guardian or adult.”

17. I would say the root cause of the problem is religious misunderstandings in our society about child sexual abuse, which Quran scholars are taking advantage of. We need to address these misunderstandings as a society, if we want to protect another girl from getting raped by her Quran teacher. It is our duty as Muslims to accept some realities so that we can show the world that Islam does not allow men to rape girls.

18. If our Prophet (PBUH) was alive today and he married Hazrat Aisha, he would be sent to prison for sexually abusing a young a child, but his case was different. I also believe she was actually more than 9 years old. But whether she was 9 or 18 is matter for the religious scholars. Maybe she was 9 or 18. But, just because Allah gave the Prophet (PBUH) permission to consummate the marriage when Hazrat Aisha was 9 years old, does not mean that everyone can do it. You need to understand, he was not an ordinary human, and nor was Hazrat Aisha. They were sent to the World to guide mankind and spread the message of Allah. But we are not prophets, messengers or angels of Allah. We are human beings. Our Ulama need to unite and declare that marrying a girl or having sexual relations with her before she is 18 years old, which is the age at which a girl is allowed to get married in Bangladesh, is forbidden, and anyone who marries a girl under 18 is a paedophile. Anyone found guilty should be punished because it is an evil action against Islam and the whole of humanity.

[1]https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/nation/339009/five-madrasa-teachers-land-in-jail-over-minor

[2]https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/crime/madrasah-teacher-detained-over-rape-12-year-old-student-dhaka-1092591

[3]https://hindupost.in/world/bangladesh-maulvi-arrested-for-raping-his-10-year-old-madrasa-student-says-he-was-possessed-by-shaitan/

[4]https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/national/country/madrasa-teacher-arrested-for-raping-student-in-kurigram

[5]https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/1738931/bangladeshis-speak-up-about-rampant-rapes-in-islamic-schools

[6]https://dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/nation/2021/09/29/3-000-students-become-child-brides-in-khulna-during-pandemic

[7]https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/child-marriage-pandemic-scorge-returns-tiptoe-2195446

[8]https://m.theindependentbd.com/arcprint/details/197517/2019-04-29

[9]https://islamqa.info/en/answers/20803/reward-for-memorizing-quraan

[10]https://islamqa.info/en/answers/20803/reward-for-memorizing-quraan

[11]https://islamqa.info/en/answers/20803/reward-for-memorizing-quraan;

[12]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedophilia