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I stumbled upon another anti-Islam site, billionbibles.org. They have an article on Taharrush Gamea which they define as the coordinated sexual attack of a girl or a woman in public by a mass of Muslim men. Their definition implies that "taharrush gamea" has something to do with Islam. I had never heard of this before.

I'm skeptical about this, as it contradicts numerous Islamic rules (e.g. Qur'an 24:30 writes: "Tell the believing men to lower their gaze and be modest. That is purer for them."). I'm seeking to check what "taharrush gamea" actually is, and its relevance to Islam (if any).

Question: What is "taharrush gamea" and is it part of Islam?

Edit: Google Trends demonstrates the the phrase "Taharrush Gamea" is a new concept:

Google Trends plot

It shows the search term "Taharrush Gamea" became popular around January 10-16, 2016, and was unheard of before then (Google Trends has data from 2004).

This coincides with the creation of the Wikipedia page Mass sexual assault in Egypt (original version); its earliest references are news reports from 10 Jan 2016 (e.g. Die Welt, Breitbart).

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    "...by a mass of men" not Muslim men. It is just like rape and has nothing to do with Islam.
    – Casanova
    Commented Jun 25, 2017 at 6:30
  • @Casanova Rape does not take you out of the fold of Islam.
    – G. Bach
    Commented Aug 3, 2017 at 11:38

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No it has no direct link to Islam.

Taharrush jama'i or gama'i (Egyptian like transliteration) التحرش الجماعي just means a sexual harassment which is done by a group or mass of men. This term is more and more in use since what happened in Egypt during the so called Arab spring, where some of the men used the situation for rape (attempts) and sexual harassment of women whom were among the people demonstrating out on the streets (For example at Tahrir square in Cairo etc.).

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    It’s been a while since I asked this, but I’d like to point out that I personally have walked around Cairo (including Tahrir square) by myself during both day and night. There’s some creepy men who’ll bother you (more than in other countries), and extra pushy salesmen (actually these were the biggest problem; one lied and told me that the shop I was going to was closed due to prayer time [it wasn’t, and even if it was prayer time the shop wouldn’t close]). But nothing so horrible as this.
    – Rebecca J. Stones
    Commented Dec 4, 2019 at 2:41
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    @RebeccaJ.Stones I see, we've been there -1 or 2 weeks before the so called Arabic spring reached to Egypt- as a couple and certainly made a different experience. But the pushy salesmen were basically the most offensive I ever saw. What I mostly disliked in Egypt was the attitude of men and how they looked at women there. So I just could imagine how the reaction would be once there would be masses on the streets. I came to the conclusion that Egypt and how it is shown in Egyptian media and reality are in clear conflict. AFAIK since Sissi rules things even got worse.
    – Medi1Saif ♦
    Commented Dec 4, 2019 at 8:18

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