Debra Mubashshir Majeed discusses marital rape and where we go from here following the responses to her pamphlet on Marital Rape she published here and used in a discussion on the topic at her mosque.

Debra Mubashshir Majeed writes,

I have read the responses to my initial posting in June with great interest. Since the taleem mentioned above, it has become increasingly obvious
that "we" — practicing Muslims and those who study our religion,
rituals, and lived realities — have much work to do on this very important issue. I cannot begin to tell you the depth of ignorance that is taught and shared as revelatory truth. Too many Muslim women arise before dawn each day to make salat and to live in contexts that confirm their sense of inferiority and marginalization. Popular interpretations of Islam suggest that men are the maintainers of women, and some of these women experience that very "maintenance" as domination, as control, and as abuse.

In 2006, on the other side of Ramadan, "we" have crucial decisions to make. Namely: (1) What will it take for us to speak truth to power and
properly confront abusers in our midst? (2) When — if — we are ready to do so, how could we describe "proper" confrontation? (3) What lessons are we willing to help the women, men, children, families, leaders of our masjids unlearn? (4) Who among us is willing to educate her/himself so that she/he may educate others? (5) Rather than mythologize religous leaders and masjid officials who perpetrate injustice, when, and, in what manner, are we ready to hold them accountable? In a very small way, I am helping to raise my husbands two sons — young men who one day will take wives of their own. In that, I am responsibile for teaching, observing, and, when necessary, correcting the manner in which they react/respond to/approach ANY female — regardless of age. In so doing, it is important for me to help them gain a healthy
and Islamically sound perception of themselves — and sometimes to do so means being challenged by and challenging my husband.

In short, this work may require subversive behavior — or behavior that some of us have been taught is unbecoming of a devout Muslim. You see,
to eradicate abuse — marital and otherwise — that from a distance we know exist, is to be willing to address that to which we knowingly turn our backs. I must take responsibility to challenge abuse, injustice, evil even if it occurs in my home, in my masjid. The time for safe silence has passed. The time for transformitive action is here. Will we continue to write only, or will we transform our narratives into weapons that discomfit abusers and witnesses and instill liberating courage to their victims? As a victim of marital rape, I now realize that my silence enabled my former husband's
attack. Not all victims are enablers, but all of us are responsible for what we allow to happen — even that which we do not agree is our business. Our present and future is at stake. Is there one who will declare the clarion call for an end to marital rape? Is there any?