NISA or North-American Islamic Shelter for the Abused is a Palo Alto, based organization that helps people victimized by domestic violence. It is primarily intended for Muslims but it provides services to anyone who requires assistance and support during a domestic abuse situation.
NISA’s approach is based on the Islamic teachings prescribed in Sunnah and Quran. Its goal is to promote family values, increase harmony and eliminate domestic violence. According to its chairman Dr. Rajabally “What makes NISA different from mainstream anti-domestic abuse organizations is that our solutions, our approach, our methodology are deeply rooted in the Holy Quran and Sunnah. The only organization of its kind that runs purely under an Islamic banner, not any ethnic or gender-centered banner.”
The word NISA is one of the words used in Arabic for Women. Like any other society, there has been a growth in Muslims finding themselves in the situation of divorce, domestic abuse, homicides and other marital issues. What first started out just as a helpline for people seeking advice has now turned into a full fledged shelter where victims can find safe haven and get time to recuperate.
NISA recently bought a shelter in Palo Alto which will accommodate up to six women. This shelter for women was the result of many phone calls from women who had been thrown out on the street after disputes at home.
Being a closely knit society, every Muslim in some respect knows anther Muslim in the Bay Area. This happened to be one of the problems that the organization faced because no one wants the entire Muslim community to find out their domestic abuse saga. NISA overcame this problem by providing its volunteer confidentiality training and holding them responsible for any leaks. Volunteers are not allowed to discuss any of the cases with anyone outside the organization, their spouses included.
Dr. Rajabally says that one of the main reasons domestic abuse exists is scriptural abuse. Couples tend to misinterpret Quranic writings to justify abuse. NISA’s task at that time is to look at Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) life and help the couple in making a viable decision.
Another excellent feature of NISA is that it provides pre-marital counseling where a volunteer spends few hours with a prospective couple and covers the various issues that might result in problems. By sponsoring various educational workshops such as “Cool It Before You Lose It” with the co-operation of local Imams, NISA is trying to create awareness in the Muslim community.
Muslim population in the Bay Area is majority immigrants and that can lead to some problems that arise from lack of understanding of the American crisis intervention system which then leads to miscommunication. For that reason, NISA provides translation services in Farsi, Urdu, and Arabic among other languages.
For more information about NISA and the services it provides, visit their website at Ask-Nisa.org. You can also call NISA’s helpline at: 1-888-ask-nisa (275-6472).
Parts of this article were adopted from NISA: Preventing Domestic Abuse written by Abrar Qadir and published in Al-Bayan Volume 10 Issue 1.
