Assalamu Alaikum - My Mother Wants Me to Lie for Her to Protect Her (Update)
Assalamu Alaikum. This is an update to my post from 11 days ago about my mom getting violent with my 7-year-old brother. Now she won’t leave me alone - she’s demanding that I commit sins and lie to protect her so Child Protective Services will close the case. Those lies would make it easier for her to hurt my brother again and would make me look unreliable if I report her later. Here’s what happened. After many people told me to report, I reached out to my counselor about my mom’s child abuse and domestic violence. My counselor reported her to Child Protective Services. I documented what happened, emailed my counselor Friday evening, and she filed the report yesterday. My mom found out this morning. When I woke up she was acting unnaturally cheerful and overly sweet to my siblings while ignoring me, which felt forced since just the day before she was bullying my brother and wouldn’t speak to my sister. I calmly asked, “Mom, what’s going on? You’re acting weird.” She suddenly exploded, shouting, “BECAUSE I KNOW WHAT YOU DID,” which startled me. I tried to stay calm and explain that I reported her because she grabbed and threw my brother on the floor, and he told me he didn’t feel safe. I said I was scared to report at first, but after getting guidance from an online Muslim community, I did what I thought was right. I had no personal vendetta. She insisted loudly that she didn’t do anything wrong, claiming many parents “do worse.” When I explained more, she became even more hateful and aggressive. She got in my face, waved her finger, screamed, and said nasty things. Every time I tried to walk away she said something to provoke me, so it was a cycle until I snapped and responded angrily. She cut me off and told me to “go to hell” and not to talk to her again. A few hours later she’s still pressuring me. She wants me to lie to CPS: to say my brother is happy, that she’s been very sweet, and our family is peaceful. These are obvious lies and would be sinful to say. When I refused, she threatened to kick me out since I’m 18, to have me committed to a mental hospital, and to smear my reputation by telling many people I’m “human garbage” so she’ll have more support than the 20 people who encouraged me to report. My brother overheard the yelling and told me he’s still scared of her, just like 11 days ago. Nothing has changed for him. I’m worried about her threats - being kicked out, forced into a hospital, and her gathering support to turn people against me. Despite my anxiety, I don’t want to disobey Allah or put my brother at risk by lying. I want to speak to my local Imam about this, but I’m afraid he might take my mom’s side. Neither my mom nor I have met this Imam before, so I don’t know how he’ll react. Please make dua for guidance and protection for me and my brother. I’m trying to do what’s right in Islam while keeping everyone safe, but I’m scared and don’t know what to do next.