Shaykh Amer Jamil
The authors, contributors, and participants of the report have to be commended for their courage and
willingness to speak the uncomfortable truth. After reading the Sacred Trust, Silent Wounds report it
becomes very clear that a lot of work is required to progress community safety and cohesion. Safe
spaces are essential if we have any hope of seeing growth at the community level. Those occupying
positions of influence and authority of any community space need to take on board the findings of
this report. The Prophet ﷺ said “Each of you is a shepherd and each of you is responsible for his
flock”, indicating the enormous responsibility upon the shoulders of those running our community
organisations and making them accountable in the next life for any negligence on their part.
The report makes it clear that many processes are simply missing in our organisations and an
urgent updating is needed. Our early community elders done a great job in building solid foundations
for their future generations. It is now upon this generation to further strengthen those foundations
through employing up-to-date checks and balances, processes, and procedures to improve service
provision, and importantly to deal effectively with the reality of abuse in all its forms. This is a
challenge, as every community suffers from abuse within its ranks in some form or another, one only
needs to follow the news to continually come across stories of abuse in all strata of society.
The elimination of harm forms a major basis of rulings in Islamic law and it is a fundamental of
this religion to fight oppression in all its forms, whether that is in international affairs, or in our
own backyards. The Prophet said ﷺ ‘Oh My servants I have prohibited oppression for myself and
made it prohibited amongst you, so do not oppress one another’, he ﷺ also warned ‘Beware of the
supplication of the oppressed. There is no veil between it and Allah.’ and further advised ‘Support
your brother whether he as an oppressor or oppressed.’ His companions asked how they could help
the oppressor, as they understood how to help the oppressed but not the oppressor. The Prophet ﷺ
explained that they could help him by preventing him from committing further oppression.
Every person should be able to access community organisations and spaces without risking their
dignity. Protection of dignity (ird) is included within the higher objectives of Islamic law and taken very
seriously, with appropriate deterrents in place. The findings of the report should send alarm bells
for anyone involved in community work and be an impetus for them to come together to collectively
foster a way forward. My hope is that this will be a first step in spring-boarding our community to
take the issues highlighted in this report seriously by taking proactive steps towards safeguarding
our community, especially the most vulnerable amongst us.
Amer Jamil holds a (LLB) law degree from Strathclyde university and BA (Hons) in Islamic
studies from the University of Wales. He spent 10 years studying the Islamic sciences
including 5 years with scholars in the Middle East (Syria and Yemen), gaining him teaching
licenses (ijaza) in various Islamic sciences. His main field of interest is Islamic family law; an
area in which he has studied in depth having studied all four schools of Islamic jurisprudence.
In 2009 he co-founded the Solas Foundation with Shaykh Ruzwan Muhammad and established
the iSyllabus Islamic studies program. He is currently the co-director of the programme.
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