THE TRUTH BEHIND (DIS)HONOR KILLINGS
By Altaf Husain Social Worker - USA http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1172500561129&p agename=Zone-English-Youth%2FYTELayout Tue. Feb. 27, 2007 She was 19 years old, bright, articulate, beautiful, and bashful. A classmate at the university, unaware of the Islamic guidelines for interactions between the genders, thought he simply could not go another day without befriending her, talking to her, and finding out more about her and what made her so different from other women. Once he stopped her in front of the library, greeted her, but she greeted him back quickly and kept moving. Another time, he caught up with her after class, again, just trying to start up a conversation. She hesitated again, greeted him quickly, and kept moving. Finally, one day, he followed her to her car and insisted that she at least tell him why she would not talk to him or why she was in general so shy. She giggled nervously, startled a bit by his persistence. She explained to him that she was not trying to offend him but that her understanding of Islamic teachings was that she should have limited, purposeful interactions with men who were not from her immediate family. He apologized for having offended her in any way. Just as they were wrapping up their conversation, a car pulled up and then sped away. She became very anxious, her face turned white, and she rushed off in her car. He had no idea that it would be the last time he would see her - alive. The car that pulled up and sped away, it seems, was occupied by the young woman's cousins and her brother. Seeing their cousin and sister in a parking lot with a strange man was enough evidence for them to jump to the conclusion that she was involved in a premarital relationship with him. "A young woman of our family," they said to each other, "who dares to dishonor the family's name, by behaving in such a loose and offensive manner with a strange man, cannot remain alive. She has brought shame to our family and must be brought to account. If people find out about her relationship with that young man, our faces will be blackened with dishonor and shame. We will have no future." As they spoke, they became angrier until the young woman's brother said he could not stand the situation any longer. He vowed to protect the family's name and honor. That night, he entered his sister's room and, without even asking for her side of the story, fatally shot her. By the following morning, the headlines read "Honor Killings Have Arrived in America - Muslim Girl Killed by Her Brother." One related news story went on to explain in detail how, to Muslims, sinful conduct and transgressions by women were punishable by death in order to protect the family's name and honor. Nothing could be further from the truth. HONOR KILLINGS ALIEN TO ISLAM Are you wondering whether you have ever heard of this case because it sounds so eerily familiar? You're thinking it sounds so sensational, right? Sure, it does. This particular story is made up, but its basic plot is derived from real-life events which have occurred and continue to do so in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and just about every place where ignorant people, well-versed in neither basic human rights nor religion are motivated to uphold so-called honor because of ill-conceived, inhuman, and unjustifiable traditions that have no basis in religion, especially not in Islam. Just a few days before I was wrapping up this essay, Ray Hanania wrote a powerful column entitled "Honor Killings Not a 'Muslim' Problem as Many Claim."Yet tragically, the following headlines, for example, have appeared, just in February 2007 alone, highlighting countries with majority Muslim populations: Jordanian Given Reduced Sentence in "Honor Killing" "Honor" Killing Spurs Outcry in Syria Pakistan Police Arrest 2 Men Accused of "Honor Killings" of Nieces Lest anyone even remotely wonder, there is not now, has never been, nor will there ever be any justification rooted in Islamic teachings for what has become commonly known as honor killings. The notion, essentially rooted in male domination and male pride, is that the conduct of the women of one's family is directly associated with the name and honor of the family. A woman whose conduct is deemed as unbecoming by the men of the family is not worthy of remaining alive because her sinful existence will bring shame and dishonor to the family. What heinous conduct could these most ignorant people possibly be referring to? Well, news stories have chronicled causes of honor killings ranging from misunderstandings such as the case described above, to a woman marrying legitimately except that she married a man outside of her own tribe or family lineage, to a woman suspected of committing fornication or adultery. Never is there any mention in these traditions of how dishonorable it is for men to engage in similar if not worse conduct or of how the men with whom the women are accused of transgressing are rarely called to account themselves. Nevertheless, the so-called honor killings of women have therefore taken the form of shooting, stabbing, stoning, hanging, burning alive, or pouring acid on the unfortunate victims, and the sickening list goes on, unfortunately. No doubt fornication and adultery are forbidden in Islam, but that honor killings - a most despicable and inhuman tradition - came to be associated with Islamic teachings is not only a tragedy, the association itself is baseless. As a young Muslim, especially a young Muslim woman, you owe it to yourself to be intimately familiar with the Islamic outlook and Islamic teachings on these related topics. Islam's Outlook on Women Anyone with even a basic understanding of Islamic teachings is sure to say to themselves, "Islam granted unparalleled rights to women, but what went wrong in later centuries?" What is the Islamic outlook on women and why is it that honor killings are so alien to Islamic teachings? While there are by now many resources on the status of women in Islam, a brief tract that has now become a must-read is "Gender Equity in Islam"by a renowned scholar of Islam, Dr. Jamal Badawi. Badawi reminds us in contemporary language of the awesome, liberating force with which Islamic teachings uplifted and dignified the women of Arabia and indeed all women. Pre-Islam Arabian culture treated women themselves as sources of shame so much so that baby girls were buried alive. Women were treated like property and had no recourse to justice if they were mistreated or suffered outright abuse at the hands of the men. Indeed, the family and social structure of the time offered men immunity for their transgressions but was most unmerciful towards women. Excerpts from "Gender Equity in Islam " 1. The Qur'an effectively ended the cruel pre-Islamic practice of female infanticide (wa'd): ( When the female (infant) buried alive is questioned for what crime she was killed) (At-Takwir 81:8-9). 2. The Qur'an went further to rebuke the unwelcoming attitudes among some parents upon hearing the news of the birth of a baby girl, instead of a baby boy: [When news is brought to one of them of (the birth of) a female (child) his face darkens and he is filled with inward grief! With shame does he hide himself from his people because of the bad news he has had! Shall he retain her on (sufferance and) contempt or bury her in the dust? Ah! what an evil (choice) they decide on!] (An-Nahl 16:58-59) 3. Parents are duty bound to support and show kindness and justice to their daughters. Prophet Muhammad said, "Whosoever has a daughter and he does not bury her alive, does not insult her, and does not favor his son over her, Allah will enter him into Paradise." (Ahmad) and "Whosoever supports two daughters until they mature, he and I will come in the Day of Judgment as this (and he pointed with his two fingers held together)." (Ahmad) With the advent of Islam, not only were women recast in the human drama as equitable to men, the status and rights accorded to them remain, even today some 14 centuries later, unparalleled in any society or culture. Muslim men and women who internalize the teachings of Islam never resort to patronizing, belittling, or blaming women for being the source of evil. Such a skewed outlook is contrary and antithetical to the teachings of Islam. There can never be justification for any harm or violence committed against women in the name of Islam, whether it be mental and emotional abuse, domestic violence, or outright murder. No man can take the law into his own hands because the least of the rights Islamic teachings guarantee to both men and women is due process and a fair hearing. Rather than depressing you with examples of how far some Muslims are from understanding and internalizing the totally awe-inspiring and forward-thinking conceptualization of women, it suffices to say that there are people who are committing honor killings and justifying their barbarity through a distorted and corrupt understanding of Islam. However, as we have pointed out briefly in this essay, there is absolutely nothing within Islamic teachings that would even remotely be misconstrued as condoning honor killings. Islam's outlook on women simply does not tolerate the tradition of honor killings. Final Thoughts The case example presented at the beginning of this essay was painful to conjure up and made less challenging in a most grotesque way because there has been so much talk about honor killings in the media that somewhere, a very similar tragedy has really unfolded. Of course, the short response to such media coverage is usually presented in two points: First, most media outlets are biased, either intentionally or out of ignorance, against Islam and present such sensational stories disproportionately and, second, Islamic teachings condemn honor killings. However, we must begin to go beyond such short hasty responses and acknowledge the fact that somehow, at some point in time, some Muslims somewhere decided that they were going to claim that Islam justifies honor killings. Rather than admitting that they were inspired and driven by the evil in their own hearts and minds, they chose, and still choose to this day, to malign the religion of Islam. What is needed is a very frank dialogue with these Muslims to help them understand how their reasoning is completely ill-conceived and theologically corrupt. Although the primary reason why someone engages in an honor killing varies with each tragedy, almost all of the time, at the heart of the matter is an accusation (sometimes a very, very baseless accusation) of fornication or adultery or some sex-related indiscretion. Most unfortunate is the fact that once the young woman is killed in a fit of rage, there is no longer an opportunity, as in the case described above, to inquire as to what really happened between the man and the woman. Is there any justification at all to take a life all for the sake of preserving one's name and honor? If it is proven without a doubt that a young woman did transgress Islamic boundaries of premarital conduct, should there not be some intervention aimed at first explaining to her the gravity of her misconduct, and then providing her with the resources to reform herself, turn to Allah with remorse, and be sincerely repentant? There should be just as much effort to educate young men and women about righteous conduct as there should be to educate parents and adults in general about the persistence of certain traditions that are totally abhorrent, such as honor killings, which are entirely outside of the framework of Islamic teachings. Honor killings bring nothing but dishonor to those who sanction them and to those who carry them out, and they have no justification either direct or implied in Islamic teachings. References: Badawi, Jamal. "Gender Equity in Islam." Why Islam? Last accessed 25 Feb. 2007. Elass, Rasha. "'Honor' Killing Spurs Outcry in Syria." Christian Science Monitor 14 Feb. 2007. Last accessed 25 Feb. 2007. Hanania, Ray. Southwest News Herald, "Honor Killings Not a 'Muslim' Problem As Many Claim." 20 Feb. 2007. Last accessed 25 Feb. 2007. Middle East Times, "Jordanian Given Reduced Sentence in 'Honor Killing.'" 1 Feb. 2007. Last accessed 25 Feb. 2007. San Diego Union Tribune. "Pakistan Police Arrest 2 Men Accused of 'Honor Killings' of Nieces." 25 Feb. 2007. Last accessed 25 Feb. 2007. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- Altaf Husain is a social worker in the United States and has been a contributing writer to Islam Online since 1998. He can be contacted at [EMAIL PROTECTED] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
