Intimacy and the Sacred: In Muslim Communities

Intercourse with ones spouse is part of being human. Alli has taken such a subject which has cultural taboos all around it, and brought it to the.
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It is very easy to misuse and distort sacred texts. All you have to do is to lift something out of context with no understanding or appreciation of its history and meaning and use it to justify your personal beliefs. Muslims, a religiously, culturally, nationally and socioeconomically diverse faith-based populace, bear no exception in escaping this dilemma [ 7 - 9 ]. Many abusers use religion and culture as an excuse to justify their actions despite obvious evidence opposing this behavior. Yet, like in many faith communities, it is only in the recent past receiving attention as a major concern in North America and globally.

Some scholars suggest that the global Muslim community is in the early stages of considering IPV as a social problem of criminal nature [ 10 - 12 ]. This is also evident in the fact that no empirical articles written in English were found on this issue prior to the s. Like many faith communities, the subject of IPV in Muslims communities generally tends to remain a taboo; there is either general reluctance or denial that IPV exists [ 10 , 13 , 14 ]. It may remain a topic hidden within many families and, once again, this guarded nature is reflected in the limited availability of research on this issue within the professional literature [ 8 , 15 ].

However, the works of a few activists, academics and grassroots level agencies have helped shed light on the gravity of this global issue in more recent times [ 8 , 15 - 21 ]. These advocates, as part of an emerging movement, are revealing that IPV is a major problem afflicting Muslim families similar to any other faith community [ 15 , 22 , 23 ]. They have also highlighted that Muslims, as a faith, culture, and sociopolitical community, have special and additional intersecting factors that complicate the contextual circumstances of IPV that involve their varied religious and cultural traditions [ 15 , 24 ].

Much can be learned from empirical studies on this subject, as these are essential for social scientists to understand a phenomenon scientifically. Not only is there a paucity of literature on the topic, but no critical synthesis of empirical studies has been done on this topic to more fully understand the empirical strengths, limitations and gaps in the literature.

The goal of a systematic review is to attempt to organize and evaluate study findings using pre-determined procedures. This reduces the chance for bias and allows for future replication. The studies used are evaluated for quality, allowing their findings to be more reliably combined. This process allows the researcher to provide more reliable findings that can be used to guide their recommendations and conclusions Cochrane, n.

As a first step towards remedying this deficit, this paper conducts an extensive, systematic literature review on current material regarding Muslims and IPV in order to illuminate more fully the complexities, intersections and unique features involved. While this study was mainly written for social scientists in North America who are interested in partner abuse in Muslim communities, the literature reviewed in this study included both North American and global empirical studies to help provide a more comprehensive understanding of the issue.

This paper will provide insight as to what areas were studied, what gaps exist in literature, and implications for future studies.

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The primary research question addressed in this study asks what do past empirical studies say about IPV among Muslims? To understand this question, this study develops an overview of the findings of the past studies that empirically examined the topic of IPV among Muslims globally. This review meets the PRISMA [ 25 ] guidelines for systematic reviews in its assessments of topic areas covered, critique of methodologies used, documentation of results and the identification of gaps for future research.

The study authors met repeatedly to develop the research question, inclusion and exclusion criteria, and to identify search terms in order to conduct this review. To prevent bias, prior to starting the project, the authors identified the definition and scope for the study and created an initial table that included the inclusion and exclusion criteria listed below table available upon request. The following inclusion criteria are utilized to narrow down the study articles: Therefore this study is limited to IPV among spouses and only includes related extended family violence when both their partner and other family members abuse the victim, or when the definition of partner abuse in a study includes abuse by extended family members.

Consequently, studies that looked at any form of abuse by partners are included. Empirical studies are also included if they 2 meet at least one of the following three criteria: As mentioned previously, 3 no restrictions are placed on the country of the study, hence, all globally available published research reports in English are included and; 4 all reports that discuss their methodology are considered.

For example, two online prevalence surveys and one technical report are included. Non-refereed empirical articles are included due to the scarcity of refereed articles in the preliminary literature search on the topic of IPV and to gain a more comprehensive understanding on the topic in general by including gray literature such as dissertations and other relevant technical reports.

Finally, 5 no date restrictions are imposed given the paucity of studies. The earliest study found to meet these criteria is in Finally, 3 one dissertation is excluded because the author denied access. Data collection utilized the following electronic databases: The articles were gathered by two graduate research assistants and followed-up by the authors for triangulation purposes. Initial searches yielded multiple hits over Screening out took place in several stages. At first, screening involved gathering all available documents that discussed IPV among Muslim communities.

This process identified over 80 articles, technical reports and books. After gathering the documents, two of the authors separately looked at each of the articles to ensure they met the above-mentioned inclusion and exclusion criteria. After careful screening by the authors, only 35 articles met the criteria originally set forth Figure 1. The study critically appraises and synthesizes existing literature on the topic.

As the studies identified were non-experimental, qualitative, or mix-methods in nature and the majority of the scales are assessments of quantitative articles only, the authors made a decision to create their own scale of assessment guided by Zaza et al.

All authors separately rated the scales and, if discrepancies were identified, they were resolved through discussion and reanalysis. For the purposes of rating categories, the following criteria are used. The first criteria assessed the question: The authors reviewed the articles to identify if the following areas are clearly addressed in the papers: This method was used for quantitative, qualitative, and mix method designs.

The ratings are based on whether or not the studies met all the criteria or some of the criteria. Quantitative studies demonstrating significant weaknesses are ranked as weak. For qualitative studies the papers are assessed based on their description of methods accuracy; recording and transcribing , interpretation of results using bracketing, open-ended questions, journaling methods , and for theory alternate explanations. Once again, the ratings are based on whether the studies met all the criteria or some of the criteria.

Qualitative studies demonstrating significant weaknesses are also ranked as weak. The second criteria assessed for measurement error. For quantitative studies, the measurement error is ranked based on the validity and reliability reported for the measures used when applicable. For validity, the study looks at whether a validity scale is used and, when necessary, if revalidation using exploratory or confirmatory factor analysis methods were applied. The rankings are based on whether both validity and reliability criteria are met, some are met, or none are met or discussed.

Qualitative studies are graded for validity based on whether or not they used the following types of validity testing methods: Reliability is graded based upon the use of a second coder or if any software was utilized. This ranking is based on whether validity and reliability criteria are both met, some are met, or none are met or discussed.

The third criteria looked at: This ranking is based on the superior level of analysis methods used to meet research questions based on the design utilized. Fourthly, interpretation of results are assessed, the interpretation of results for quantitative studies is based on whether or not the studies took into consideration all controllable confounding variables in their design and discussed the study limitations for factors they were unable to control for.

This ranking is based on the extent of interpretation. For qualitative methods, the interpretation of results is ranked based on the coherence and communicability of the analysis of those results. In quantitative studies the ranking was based on the extent of generalizability. Quantitative studies using random sampling methods are considered to have high generalizability.

Intimacy and the Sacred: In Muslim Communities - Habeeb Alli - Google Книги

Studies employing nonrandom sampling methods are considered to have low generalizability. If higher rigor non-random sampling methods are used, such as quarter sampling, the generalizability is considered moderate. For studies using secondary data, this score is based on the sampling method used in the surveys they utilized. For qualitative studies, the concept of transferability of content, such as abstract constructs, is used as a guiding principal for ranking of data. Of the 35 studies Table 1 that are being used for this review, 13 were conducted in the US and 22 were done globally.

Fifteen studies concentrated exclusively on Muslims and 10 of the studies included in the analysis controlled for religion with implications discussed in detail. Nineteen studies focused on women while 15 studied both men and women, and one study targeted men only. The unit of analysis for all but one of the 35 studies was at the individual level with that being at the focus group level. Sample sizes varied from 2 to nearly 11, participants. Thirty-one studies used primary data, while 4 studies used secondary data. Of the studies that used primary data, 3 studies used random sampling methods, 28 used non-random sampling methods and one mixed-method study used both random and non-random sampling on their two datasets.

Of the 4 studies that used secondary data, the data were obtained from large government health surveys. Seven studies used existing scales and 9 studies used scales created by the authors. Six studies used semi-structured interviews whereas 4 studies chose an unstructured interview format. One study reviewed client records while another study combined a review of police records with a semi-structured interview.

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Finally, one study used field observations. The study findings from our assessment are presented in Table 2. Overall studies varied in their rigor. Qualitative studies are stronger in their rigor than quantitative studies. Among quantitative studies, only 3 studies were ranked strong in all areas of assessment and 3 studies were ranked weak overall. The other 16 studies varied in their ranking based on criteria assessment. The strongest area of the quantitative studies was in their interpretation of results.

Fifteen studies are ranked strong in this theme. The biggest bias in the studies is identified in the area of generalizability. Twelve studies used non-probability sampling methods reducing the generalizability. Qualitative studies were higher in their rigor comparatively in methodology overall. Out of the 11 qualitative studies, 4 are ranked strong in all areas, and none are ranked weak in all areas. Qualitative studies are clearly outlined their study, in fact 10 of the 11 studies are ranked strong. The weakest areas of qualitative studies are in transferability and measurement error.

The two mixed methods studies are ranked overall weak to moderate in their rigor Table 2. Some major themes stood out in the articles: Extremely few studies have attempted to examine the prevalence of IPV in Muslim communities. Of the studies available, high global prevalence rates are reported overall. The quality assessment of these studies, however, reveals weak study rigor, therefore it is difficult to make definitive conclusions and generalizability is considered to be low.

It is also difficult to infer if the variations in prevalence rates are due to the way abuse was measured, the rigor of these studies, or due to cultural and national variations. Three US-based studies are identified that examine prevalence. While these studies did not use rigorous research designs, they are the only available records of prevalence in the US. A third noteworthy study done by Alkhateeb [ 22 ] is unfortunately excluded in this study due to a lack of information on the methods she used.

More women in the survey Unfortunately, due to low rigor in both studies the conclusions drawn cannot be considered definitive. These high prevalence rates were also echoed globally. Their findings also indicated that women were less likely to face abuse when they were pregnant. Three studies conducted in Bangladesh identified that Muslim women were more likely to experience all forms of IPV than their non-Muslim counterparts [ 34 - 36 ].

However, a fourth study by Dalal et al. Contrary to the findings of the Bangladeshi studies, research conducted with Lebanese women found Armenian women in the study cohort reporting more physical abuse than Muslim women [ 38 ]. Yet another study conducted in Nigeria reported that Catholic women experienced significantly higher sexual abuse than Muslim women. No comparable significant differences were identified with physical and psychological abuse between Muslim participants and their Catholic counterparts [ 39 ].

Consistent with the Bangladeshi studies, an Egyptian study also found Muslim women to have higher prevalence levels of IPV Once again, limitations of these studies threaten their validity and implications. Other studies found several key types of IPV. Based on this study polygamy comes with a set of expected behaviors by all parties involved and when the husband deviated from the Islamic dictates of polygamous marriage, such as unequal treatment of wives, the women in this study identified it as a form of emotional abuse.

Co-wives were identified as both witnesses to abuse as well as co-perpetrators [ 16 ]. While these findings are interesting, there is an insufficient number of studies available to make conclusions based on culture and nationality. A total of two studies examined factors associated with IPV and validated scales measuring attitudes, risk factors, and culturally sensitive screening.

The order of factors identified was similar to original scale. These studies revealed and emphasized the complexity IPV situations often have when additional factors are introduced. Nine studies looked at attitudes toward intimate partner violence [ 41 - 43 , 46 - 51 ]. Generally, studies looking at attitudes towards IPV examined tendencies to justify wife abuse especially under certain circumstances and especially by men, regardless of the cultural and global context. A Canadian study also reported significantly more lenient attitudes towards wife abuse by Muslim men than Muslim women.

However, this study found those negative attitudes were mitigated by higher self-esteem, where Muslims with higher self-esteem were more likely to be against wife abuse, regardless of gender [ 47 ]. A study conducted in Germany on immigrant Pakistani women found that some women in the study believed IPV is not a problem in their community, that the idea of abuse as a crime is a western construct and serves to break the family institution. Some even believed that a certain level of abuse is justified and necessary for a marriage [ 46 ].

Hassouneh-Phillips [ 20 ] found that American Muslim women in her study identified marriage as the center of social and religious life and that it was a significant source of personal and spiritual fulfillment. Additionally, women were socialized at a very young age to one day marry, thus substantial pressure from society is exerted to get married and stay married.

This leads to significant acceptance and tolerance of wife abuse. Additionally, the belief that cultural and religious mores dictate that good wives are obedient means that women would not question male authority or fight back, thus leading to the belief that a good wife should be tolerant of abuse or that the husband has right to abuse.

Experiences of coping and help seeking were strongly tied to cultural and religious contexts and beliefs as Muslim women living in North America come from various cultural national backgrounds [ 8 , 17 , 18 , 20 , 44 ]. Spirituality in these studies was strongly tied to cultural beliefs and played a complex role as it could serve both to provide strength as a source of coping, or create vulnerability for continued IPV as a mechanism of obstruction for safety [ 8 , 20 , 44 ]. Women were more likely to seek assistance from their own family if they faced severe abuse while they generally sought out in-laws if abuse was occasional [ 36 , 41 ].

Seeking help from formal systems and leaving were the least utilized supports among several studies globally. Haj-Yahia [ 43 ], studied women who held strong views against intimate partner violence, nevertheless felt that when it comes to help seeking, Arab cultural mores should be maintained. They believed that coping with abuse should respect cultural values, maintain family privacy, and be discreet. They also believed the family should be the first help-seeking option. Haj-Yahia [ 52 ], found that less than 1 in 3 women sought outside help for physical abuse; however, the severity of the abuse helped predict the likelihood of seeking assistance from outside.

A strong desire to not break the marriage by leaving was reflected in several studies [ 8 , 19 , 20 , 46 , 52 ].

Intimate Partner Violence in Muslim Communities

In a recent survey conducted in the US, the most often identified mental health effects of partner abuse were: The physical symptoms associated with IPV included: Similar health related patterns were identified in studies conducted abroad. In addition, IPV was associated with a higher number of children.

They found Muslim women to be significantly more likely to experience unintended pregnancies than non-Muslim women. A Muslim on the Bridge: From Marriage to Parenthood. The Legislative Position on Qur'aan Khwaanee. Between a Pillar and a Hard Place. Erotica, Love and Humor in Arabia. Women and the Koran. Sex and the American Muslim.

Life is More Beautiful than Paradise. The Daily Devotional Exercises. Religions in South Africa, Vol. Independent Forum for Faith and Media.

Which Intimacy Positions Are Haram?

Principles of Islamic Psychology. The Journey of a Toiler. Simple Guide to Attending Muslim Ceremonies. My Guide to Understanding Islam.


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