Just came across the following concerning Maulana Abdullah Saleem of Chicago and it has left me completely stunned, he is supposedly one of the respected elders of that city, and regarded as a pioneer of Islamic education and hifz in Chicago.
CHICAGO: A prominent Islamic scholar and longtime head of a suburban Chicago school has been charged with sexually abusing a 23-year-old woman who worked at the school, authorities said Tuesday.
A civil suit filed hours later accuses him of abusing that employee and three students.
Mohammad Abdullah Saleem, 75, who founded the school in Elgin, called Institute of Islamic Education, is charged with felony criminal sexual abuse.
Prosecutors say that he abused the woman, an administrative assistant at the time, in a series of escalating incidents over months.
The civil suit filed in Cook County Circuit Court accuses Saleem of abusing that employee, as well as three other females when they were students at the school.
Lawyer Steven Denny said that over decades, Saleem abused the trust accorded to him as a religious leader who was widely respected in close-knit Muslim communities. “This place was ripe for abuse,” Denny told a news conference.
Defence attorney Thomas Glasgow said he talked to his client about the Elgin charges and that he “categorically denies the allegations.”
No one answered the phone Tuesday at the school, which has students from grades six through 12 and is located 25 miles northwest of Chicago.
Saleem was arrested Sunday, the Elgin Police Department said.
Police said they started investigating after the woman contacted authorities in December.
During Tuesday's bond hearing, prosecutors alleged that a month after the woman started working at the school in September 2012, Saleem started removing the religious veil from her face and came into her office to hug her.
Over several months, prosecutors said, he would molest her and eventually tried to kiss her.
Last April, according to prosecutors, he locked the doors of the woman's office and sexually abused her.
Prosecutors say they collected evidence, including evidence found on the woman's clothing.
Saleem's bond was set at $250,000 and he was ordered to have no contact with the alleged victim, any members of her family or anyone under the age of 18.
Glasgow said he expected Saleem to post bond and be released later Tuesday. The judge also ordered Saleem to surrender his passport.
The next court date is March 10. At the news conference announcing the civil suit, statements from alleged victims — none of whom were identified — were read.
The 23-year-old woman, referred to as Jane Doe No. 1 in the lawsuit, called on Muslims to address questions of sexual abuse more openly. She said, “I will no longer stay silent."
The chairman of the Council of Islamic Organisations of Greater America, to which the school belongs, says his organisation examined the Islamic school's bylaws and found they granted Saleem almost absolute decision-making power — enabling any president to easily conceal any wrongdoing.
In light of Saleem's arrest, Mohammed Kaiseruddin said Islamic schools across the country should rework their bylaws to allow for more oversight.
Muslim activists in Chicago said the legal action presents an opportunity to address an issue that was typically kept in the shadows.
Nadiah Mohajir, director of HEART Women and Girls, which raises awareness about sexual abuse in the Muslim community, called Saleem's arrest “a wake-up call."
Source Dawn News.com.
Story has also been covered by most american media, including NY times, chicago tribune, Huffington post etc.
A few years ago, Mufti Noor ul Amin pakistani shaykh who had developed a large following through his spiritual discourses , had a popular website called khanqah.com run by his Mureeds, and a strong following in both Pakistan and US. Was exposed after allegedly molesting many of his female mureeds,
he was finally stripped of his Khilafat by Shaykh ul Hadith Sufi Sarwar sahib.
True although we have had a few cases over the years like the one below but one suspects that below the surface there is alot more that goes on. And the following abuse intially was brushed under the carpet only coming to the surface decades later.
Paedophile imam jailed after girls he abused 27 years ago come forward to nail him
Judge said Kazi, 67, would have been jailed for longer but law prevented it as offences took place so long ago
Women he abused wept as sentenced passed
Cleric's victims were aged just eight, nine and ten when attacks started
Imam was 'revered' in one girl's family so she did not speak out
By LEON WATSON
UPDATED: 16:59, 3 November 2011
A paedophile imam who abused young girls while teaching at a mosque has been jailed for two years.
Ebrahim Yusuf Kazi, 67, was told by a judge he would have been jailed for longer - but the law prevented it as the offences took place 27 years ago.
The cleric sexually assaulted three victims - all aged under 11 - during class as he taught groups of youngsters alone inside the mosque, Swindon Crown Court heard.
He would invite the girls to read a passage from a book in front of the other children - before groping and touching their genitals under the desk.
He also locked himself in a toilet cubicle with one of the girls, removed her clothes before he touched and licked her body.
Ebrahim Yusuf Kazi, 67, looked quizzically at his interpreter - translating in his native Gujarati - as he was ordered down to the cells
Kazi's campaign of abuse only surfaced 27 years later when the brave victims finally decided to speak out and confront him in court.
The women wept yesterday as they saw Kazi jailed after being convicted on five counts of sexual assault at the court in Wiltshire.
Judge Euaun Ambrose said: 'You were in a position of very considerable status, trust and authority.
'It was a position of total power and respect - not only within the mosque but also within the local Muslim community.
'You were trusted by those who attended the mosque. You were also trusted by the parents who sent their children to be taught by you.
'However, you wasted the opportunities the position gave you and indecently assaulted three of these children.
'All were pre-pubescent girls and all were entrusted to your care.
'This was a gross breach of trust. Against all this you continue to deny any responsibility for these offences and have shown no remorse.
'There has become much stiffer sentences for this type of behaviour but I am obliged as a matter of law to sentence you in regard to the law at the time.
'Had these offences been committed more recently the sentences that I pass would be much, much longer.'
Jailed: Swindon Crown Court (pictured) heard Kazi angrily claimed one girl was a liar when she told her parents what he had done to another girl
POLICE 'FRUSTRATED' KAZI COULDN'T BE GIVEN LONGER SENTENCE
Speaking after the sentencing, PC Dawn Simmonds, from Wiltshire Police, branded Kazi a 'scheming paedophile'.
She said: 'I am frustrated that the court could not impose a longer sentence. He is a scheming paedophile.
'But I am pleased the judge has recognised the offences that Kazi did.
'As abuses of trust go it was the ultimate really and will effect the victims for the rest of their lives.
'Not only did he subject these children to these despicable acts but he has shown no remorse for his actions, having now also put them through the ordeal of a trial.
'I would like to thank the victims for having the courage to come forward.'
Stephen Dent, prosecuting, said Kazi preyed on the youngsters while imam at the town's Broad Street Mosque, between June 1979 and April 1985.
He taught large groups of around 20 pupils alone in a room - making girls come up and read passages from a book to him.
He would then fondle their legs from underneath a desk, touching their private parts until they finished the passage.
Kazi's three devastated victims - aged around eight, nine and ten when the abuse started - claimed each terrifying and repeated episode could carry on for as long as 15 minutes.
He groomed one of his victims and continued to abuse her over a number of years.
He would take her to a toilet cubicle and progressed, over a period of time, from touching her under her clothes to stripping her and licking her body parts.
The court heard that the cleric was 'revered' in the girl's family so she did not speak out.
When one of the other girls told her parents what Kazi did to her - the defendant angrily branded her a 'liar' and the allegations went away.
Another family pulled their girl out of the mosque, after her brother witnessed the abuse.
They were forced to give evidence against Kazi at the trial last month which convicted him of five counts of sexual assault.
Judge Ambrose, quoting from impact statements of the three victims - now all grown women - said one still had nightmares about the abuse.
They all said it continued to affect their lives.
Martin Steen, defending, said Kazi had moved to Gloucester since the offences and was now a respected member of the community.
He claimed that Kazi, who is suffering with bad health and depression, has had to install panic alarms in his home since the offences came to light.
Mr Steen handed the judge 24 letters from community members, praising Kazi. One woman said she would never think twice about leaving her child with him.
He said: 'Perceptions have changed and in the mean time this man has changed. He has behaved impeccably in terms of support given to the community.'
As well as jailing Kazi for two years, Judge Ambrose also imposed a Sexual Offences Prevention Order against him.
The defendant, dressed in white religious robes and a Muslim skull cap, looked quizzically at his interpreter - translating in his native Gujarati - as he was ordered down to the cells.
I feel Sorry for this whole episode because it shakes the Eemaan of the people in Ulama because we are trained to place Ulama on pedestals and this is hard to stomach.
Absolutely especially when the individuals are well known and seem to have a very iconic status, within their local communities or even internationally. Even more so when these individuals are giving eloquent lectures on Tafseer/ Hadith and perfection of virtues and the elimination of vices including Zinah...! Truly horrific thing is in many of these cases the local communities, seek to ostracise and villify the victims of the abuse and their families.
Firstly I have no doubt this stuff happens in some very rare cases and is not the norm. There has to be absolute segregation between men and women and all girls no matter how young they are. They should not be taught by men. The Muslim community should not tolerate such individuals. We should help the victims of such crimes. Let me give you a personal story of mine. I had a friend who was older than me. We used to hang out and anyway he would come to my house etc. I had a youngster sister who in those days would be around 7 years old. So he would ‘check’ her out. Nothing else happened but luckily I noticed it. Then I was told by this same friend how 2 little girls in a madrasah he taught fancied him. I thought it was a bit strange for 7 year olds to fancy somebody. Anyway luckily this guy realized his problem and left madrasah. Now the issue is for me this was all strange and could have been brushed up under the carpet but lucky I was half alert. Imagine I had left my sister in a room with this ‘friend’ thinking she is small what’s the issue. So I think as parents, elders etc we need to be extremely vigilant. Parents need to be careful and never leave children unsupervised even with relatives. Sorry these are sick things and nobody likes to discuss them. Let us inshallah share some ways of protecting children.
I think something important that is taught in state school to children from a young age, especially those that don't understand physical contact, is that they are not only taught 'stranger danger' but also what is innappropriate and appropriate physical contact, regardless of who the person may be.
why do our children have to learn these issues from total strangers, yes their is haya and modesty in Islam, but their is also parental responsibility for this type of education.
Sadly I have met two mothers who had issues at madressa, one mother pulled her daughter out immediately and didn't want anyone to find out, even her own husband.
Second mum reported incident regarding her son to the committee, yes I'm ashamed to say her husband was ill treated at salah times, her husband and sons had to stop attending the Masjid for salah, it came to a point where the abuse towards the family got so bad they had to move out of the area.
I feel Sorry for this whole episode because it shakes the Eemaan of the people in Ulama because we are trained to place Ulama on pedestals and this is hard to stomach.
you hit the nail right on the head with that statement. Ulama here referrign to graduates of darul ulooms.
well the respect for ulema must remain. Such people would no longer be termed ulema but perverts or paedophiles. Whoever does not fear ALLAH is no alim.
[QUOTE the fake sheikh] Some Signs Of A True 'Aalim In Islam, an 'Aalim refers to an Islamic scholar. The criteria for a real and true 'Aalim must thus be clearly defined so that we do not mistaken the genuine and the fake. This is absolutely necessary for us to protect and safeguard our Deen.
Many people get deceived by the eloquence and the speeches of "scholars", although those "scholars" might go against Shari'ah. They set the criteria that so and so 'Aalim is famous, his speeches are good or he looks very innocent etc. etc. They might spice-up new ideas as "best-practices" or "the way" to revive the Ummah whereas those methods have nothing to do with Rasulullah SAW and his Companions RA.
Below are just some hints that an ordinary Muslim may use in order to recognise and identify the 'Aalim and Ulama of Haqq (Truth):
1. The reverred Tabi'in - Hasan Al-Basri RA comments:
"An 'Aalim is that person who fears Allah in secrecy and openness, he desires those things that Allah encourages and he dislikes those things that Allah dislikes."
2. The reverred Sahabi - Saiyidina Abdullah ibn Mas'ud RA said:
"'Ilm (knowledge) is not a lot of speech, but rather Ilm is a lot of fear of Allah."
The summary of this is the amount which he fears Allah, is the level of his Ilm.
3. Ahmad ibn Saalih Al-Misri RA said:
"Plentiness of Ilm is not the means of recognising Taqwa (Fear of Allah) but rather - the following of the Qur'an and Sunnah is the means of recognising Allah."
4. Shaykh Shihabuddin RA said:
"A person who does not have the fear of Allah in him, he is not an 'Aalim."
5. Rabee ibn Anas RA said:
"Verily, the 'Aalim is that person who fears Allah."
6. "Sa'd ibn Ibrahim RA was asked:
"Who is the most learned person in Madinah?"
He replied:
"The one who has the most Taqwa (Fear) for his Lord."
7. One of the greatest Sahabi - Saiyidina Ali ibn Abi Talib RA also explained the attributes and qualities of a true Faqih in this manner:
"A complete 'Aalim is that person who does not make a person despondent of the mercy of Allah, nor does he give them leeway in their sins, nor does he give them security from the punishment of Allah, nor does he abandon the Qur'an desiring some other objective."
8. Saiyidina Ali RA also says:
"There is no good in any Ibadah (Worship) in which there is no Ilm (Knowledge); and there is no Ilm in which there is no deep insight into it; and there is no recitation in which there is no pondering into it." (Ma'riful Qur'an: Volume 6: Page 336)[/quote]
Did you report his behaviour to the relevant people in authority, within the Madrasah or otherwise? And what action did they take?
If you dealt with the matter discretely and privately then that is "brushing it under the carpet"...! The problem is that when such individuals are caught people tend to deal with these individuals discretely, they are asked to resign or removed from their position etc.
So the perpetrators simply move to another town or city and carry on their abuse, and they can carry on such behaviour for years even decades leaving dozens of victims in their wake.
Although such behaviour may not be the norm, exploitation as a whole in all its forms I suspect is not as rare as you are stating, especially with popularity of muslim Faith healers/Raqis on top you got the fitnah of muslim women acting like teenage groupies when their is a young cool, street style, jive talking preacher or nasheed artist and it is very easy for someone in that position to exploit his position whilst in the guise of doing some counselling, .
Victims and their families are usually afraid to come forward because they feel no one will believe them or they know the local community will ostracise them.
I can tell you that in other countries, such as Pakistan it is probably far more common so much so that the public are no longer shocked when such allegations come to light.
This cannot be undone and I am sure it will be greatly appreciated.
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