The Hurma Project endeavors to comprehend the implications of the Prophet’s teachings in our contemporary communities, particularly when violations of trust, harm and abuse are committed by those in positions of religious authority. Some may ask why this is the case, and are we implying that religious leaders are inherently untrustworthy? Not at all! But there are two good reasons for focusing on those who have religious power, knowledge and authority:

First, in all relationships where one person has power or authority over another, Islam requires that this influence be limited and regulated. Allah has not granted any person unlimited authority over another – not parents over children, teachers over students, or even the Muslim leader (ameer or caliph) over the believers. When Abu Bakr (R.A.) was appointed by the believers as their leader, he told them, “If I am in the right, help me, if I am in the wrong, correct me.” When we appoint people to positions of authority in our communities, we have the responsibility to work with them to ensure that they stay within their limits and that they never use that position, knowingly or unintentionally, to harm another person.

Second, when someone is harmed by a person in a position of religious leadership, authority or trust, that person’s relationship with the deen can be negatively impacted. For example, there are documented cases of children being abused by their hifz tutors, with the result that they cannot listen to the Qur’an without recalling their abuse. In other cases, adults who made great sacrifices to contribute to a spiritual leader’s project were left devastated when that “leader” disappeared with the money; community members found it difficult to trust other spiritual leaders after that. Nothing could be more devastating for a believer than to be cut off from the Qur’an, from the teachers of Islamic knowledge, and from their religious communities. This negative impact is what we call spiritual harm. It is our communal obligation to prevent such harms to the extent that we are able, and to respond to them when they occur with integrity, compassion, and wisdom. With the care and support of other believers, it is possible for a person to recover from spiritual harm.

Our goal is to educate, train, and advocate for the application of hurma to strengthen the inherent sanctity bestowed upon all community members in various Muslim spaces, including mosques, Islamic centers, schools, seminaries, institutes, conferences, camps, and other communal venues.  Read more about the history of the project.