• Why Jihad Watch?
  • About Robert Spencer and Staff Writers
  • FAQ
  • Books
  • Muhammad
  • Islam 101
  • Privacy

Jihad Watch

Exposing the role that Islamic jihad theology and ideology play in the modern global conflicts

Syrian women endangered by threat of honor killings

Nov 1, 2007 9:48 am By Robert Spencer

Speaking about honor killings in the Islamic world is certain to bring you a charge of “Islamophobia.” But here we learn that “it is difficult to change laws that people are used to it and considered it as Sharia.” Indeed it is. And it is even more difficult when the people who should be working to change those laws are instead in denial about the problem itself. The authorities in this article who are saying that honor killing is not sanctioned by Sharia should be supported by Muslims in the West, who instead prefer to pretend that the whole thing isn’t happening.

“Honour crime fear of Syria women,” by Lina Sinjab for the BBC News (thanks to B.):

Seventeen-year-old Bushra is too scared to give her real name. She talks in a low, trembling voice, her face full of fear.

“They want to shed my blood, they want to kill me,” she says, as she recounts how she escaped being murdered by members of her own family in a so-called “honour killing”.

A Sunni Muslim, she had fallen in love with Fadel, from Syria’s Alawite Muslim minority. He went to her family to ask for her hand in marriage, but he was rejected.

The family said Bushra must marry her cousin. But on their wedding day, she ran away with the man she loved and family members began to hunt her down, to “erase the dishonour” she had caused.

Bushra’s story is not an exceptional one in Syria, where women’s organisations estimate more than 200 women are murdered every year by brothers, cousins or fathers.

[…]

The Syrian authorities are trying to crack down on the practice of “honour killing”, and they have widespread support.

About 10,000 people have signed a petition calling for an end to the practice, in a campaign backed by senior Muslim officials.

[…]

It is an issue for all communities – Christian, Muslim and Druze – says Daed Musa, a lawyer and women’s rights activist

“The laws are old and go back to the 1940s. No woman can feel safe under the current legislation.”

Murders considered to have been in defence of honour are not considered a “crime” under Syrian law, but an “offence”. It carries a maximum penalty of a year’s imprisonment, but could be reduced to a month by a judge.

Some families entrust the task of erasing dishonour to a juvenile, further reducing the penalty.

Cultural change

After Zahra’s death, the NODW renewed the campaign, circulating the petition and mobilising religious clerics to denounce the killing.

Syria’s top Sunni cleric, Grand Mufti Sheikh Ahmad Hassoun, rejects any suggestion that “honour crime” is sanctioned by Islam.

He explains that Islamic law requires four witnesses for the crime of adultery – an almost impossibly high burden of proof, which means in effect that no-one can be found guilty of it.

The mufti believes, however, that the starting point should be in education and tolerance especially with religious preachers.

“It is difficult to change laws that people are used to it and considered it as Sharia. In many cases, it is traditions rather than laws,” he says.

“What we need is to educate people and spread awareness among the society. The problem is when you have people preaching at mosques and don’t have a profound knowledge on Islam.”

No women can be protected of an act of killing unless legal changes are introduced. This will take political will to actually happen. Until then, women in Syria will still be at risk.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Follow me on Facebook

Filed Under: Uncategorized


Learn more about RevenueStripe...

FacebookYoutubeTwitterLog in

Subscribe to the Jihad Watch Daily Digest

You will receive a daily mailing containing links to the stories posted at Jihad Watch in the last 24 hours.
Enter your email address to subscribe.

Please wait...

Thank you for signing up!
If you are forwarding to a friend, please remove the unsubscribe buttons first, as they my accidentally click it.

Subscribe to all Jihad Watch posts

You will receive immediate notification.
Enter your email address to subscribe.
Note: This may be up to 15 emails a day.

Donate to JihadWatch
FrontPage Mag

Search Site

Translate

The Team

Robert Spencer in FrontPageMag
Robert Spencer in PJ Media

Articles at Jihad Watch by
Robert Spencer
Hugh Fitzgerald
Christine Douglass-Williams
Andrew Harrod
Jamie Glazov
Daniel Greenfield

Contact Us

Terror Attacks Since 9/11

Archives

  • 2020
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2019
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2018
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2017
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2016
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2015
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2014
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2013
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2012
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2011
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2010
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2009
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2008
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2007
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2006
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2005
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2004
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2003
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • March

All Categories

You Might Like

Learn more about RevenueStripe...

Recent Comments

  • Mojdeh on Audio: Robert Spencer on Muslim Brotherhood influence in a Biden/Harris administration
  • Henry Mansfield on Audio: Robert Spencer on Muslim Brotherhood influence in a Biden/Harris administration
  • Crusades Were Right on New study reveals that Muslim religiosity strongly linked to hatred towards the West
  • Naildriver on Uighur leader: ‘We’re actually quite worried’ about what Biden might let China get away with
  • Crusades Were Right on Canadian Mental Health Association studies Muslim women’s mental health due to ‘discrimination’ and ‘hate crimes’

Popular Categories

dhimmitude Sharia Jihad in the U.S ISIS / Islamic State / ISIL Iran Free Speech

Robert Spencer FaceBook Page

Robert Spencer Twitter

Robert Spencer twitter

Robert Spencer YouTube Channel

Books by Robert Spencer

Jihad Watch® is a registered trademark of Robert Spencer in the United States and/or other countries - Site Developed and Managed by Free Speech Defense

Content copyright Jihad Watch, Jihad Watch claims no credit for any images posted on this site unless otherwise noted. Images on this blog are copyright to their respective owners. If there is an image appearing on this blog that belongs to you and you do not wish for it appear on this site, please E-mail with a link to said image and it will be promptly removed.

Our mailing address is: David Horowitz Freedom Center, P.O. Box 55089, Sherman Oaks, CA 91499-1964

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.