More about Honour Killings

I wrote an article a while ago regarding Honour Killings, and an avid reader of my site wanted to give their take on it as well.

This is the guest post by Peaceful Melody regarding Honour Killings in the Arab and Islamic nations.

Call the people ignorant. Savages. Violent. Animals with two feet. Whatever we want to call the people that kill for ‘honor’, we must always realize that it still happens. That no matter what we call them, or what we do, 5000 women yearly are still getting killed for ‘honor’. First lets point out that ‘honor killings’ is a retarded part of cultures around the world but mostly (and sadly) located in Muslim countries. They were reported in Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, the Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey, Yemen, and other Mediterranean and Gulf countries. Or in other words ‘in the hands of damn ignorant middle Easterners’. It is condemned by Islam totally and rejected by all status of Islamic scholars and is known as ‘cultural’.

Christians and members of other faiths also participate in the acts in the middle east. Now in Turkey when honor killings happen in mostly Kurd inhabited areas they are claimed as ‘suicide or accident’. And the historical killings ‘sati’ can also be considered honor killings in which the widow is burned alive after her husbands death. This kind of killings happen in mostly South Asia. Though many honor killings are done in the Middle East, most of the honor killings are done in Pakistan and South Asian countries, or immigrants from those nations to Europe (Ex. England has seen more then a dozen honor killings from immigrant groups). There are a few reasons why honor killings take place: 1. When a women commits adultery, or is presumed by her paranoid family to have committed 2. When a women wants divorce and does separate from her husband. 3. Refusing to enter an arranged marriage 4. Being a victims of a sexual assault 5. Falls in love with a man outside her faith or town Now those reasons all don’t call the woman ‘the guilty one’ because all of the things she is a victim in expect maybe number one which she might be innocent still.

Why are they done? Because the family thinks that by that way the girl brought dishonor to the family and the family names ‘was thrown down the drain’ by her actions. It is committed by the females family. Sharif Kanaana, professor of anthropology at Birzeit University states that honor killing is: A complicated issue that cuts deep into the history of Arab society. .. What the men of the family, clan , or tribe seek control of in a patrilineal society is reproductive power. Women for the tribe were considered a factory for making men. The honor killing is not a means to control sexual power or behavior. What’s behind it is the issue of fertility , or reproductive power.[wikipedia] An Amnesty International statement adds: The mere perception that a woman has contravened the code of sexual behavior damages honor. The regime of honor is unforgiving: women on whom suspicion has fallen are not given an opportunity to defend themselves, and family members have no socially acceptable alternative but to remove the stain on their honor by attacking the woman [wikipedia]

Why is it surprisingly not stopped or has a strict law against it? Because countries where its culture (ex; middle east and south Asia) or religion (ex: Hindus in India) to kill the government won’t stop it and sees it as a ‘private issue’ for the family and not the state. Does religion permit honor killings? In Islam honor killings are totally rejected and has no proof in Islam. There is no specific saying in the Quran which condemns it, but it is forbidden by all interpretations of Islam, whether from an extremist to a moderate to a reformist, all honor killings are rejected. And honor killings are mentioned in the Quran when the killing of a young girl to protect family honor, which is strongly rejected in Islam. There is a difference between culture and religion, and because the culture of honor killings are located in Muslim nations it is confused.

Shaikh Atiyyah Saqr of alazhar fatwa committee said this about honor killings: Like all other religions, Islam strictly prohibits murder and killing without legal justification. Allah, Most High, says, “Whoso slayeth a believer of set purpose, his reward is Hell for ever. Allah is wroth against him and He hath cursed him and prepared for him an awful doom.” (An-Nisa’: 93) The so-called “honor killing” is based on ignorance and disregard of morals and laws, which cannot be abolished except by disciplinary punishments. {wikipedia}

What do I think about it? Well as a Muslim girl from middle Eastern parents and roots i think that honor killings are one of the most disgusting murders and deaths in human history of killings. I seriously condemn this to the core of condemnation and don’t know what drives family members to kill a women. I think its for illogical reasons and a family does not form a name based on acts of the females. I think a families good name and reputation comes from good deeds, and if some things considered bad by them happened, its should be put into the past and they should get on with their life. It is absolutely embarrassing to have it in Muslim countries and I’m embarrassed by the peoples open ignorance. What is very embarrassing is not much laws are against it, for example in Pakistan where a women is considered very worthless in society and women are stuck in jail for zina and not men, and where no law is against honor killings. I think ignorance should be put into an immediate stop and people who commit those crimes should be punished harshly by the government.

I spoke too much, but gave so little to the women who are suffering in hands of their families for crimes that they did not commit. Those women might be dead, but are forever in our hearts and minds. And tomorrow when honor killings are stopped, at that day i know when i look up to the sun and see its shine, i know that each ray is a girl who’s life was ended harshly telling the world who stood up against those killings ‘Thank you’. And to that I’ll smile to the sun. I hoped you like the article that took me two days to write and this is the international campaign against honor killings: http://www.stophonourkillings.com/index.php And in memory of Du’ua Khalil Aswad, a Yazidi girl recently stoned to death for loving a Sunni man in Iraq. Rest in Peace

Confused, Culture, Guest Post, Random Thoughts, Religion, They said what?