Yet another honor killing. “Arresting women for mingling with (unrelated males) should be stopped because it puts many Saudi women in danger and sometimes (costs) them their lives. This act has nothing to do with the religion of Islam or Saudi tradition.”
Maybe not, although Islamic law does forbid women to mingle with unrelated males. And as for the honor killing itself, it’s unmistakable. A manual of Islamic law certified by Al-Azhar as a reliable guide to Sunni orthodoxy says that “retaliation is obligatory against anyone who kills a human being purely intentionally and without right.” However, “not subject to retaliation” is “a father or mother (or their fathers or mothers) for killing their offspring, or offspring’s offspring.” (‘Umdat al-Salik o1.1-2).
In other words, someone who kills his child incurs no legal penalty under Islamic law.
“Saudi Religious Police Blamed In ‘Honor’ Killing Of Sisters,” from AFP, July 10 (thanks to Pamela):
RIYADH (AFP)–A Saudi women’s group on Friday blamed the country’s religious police in the “honor” killing of two sisters shot dead by their own brother after they were arrested for mixing with unrelated men.
The Society for Defending Women’s Rights in Saudi Arabia said the religious police put the sisters’ lives in danger when they arrested them and placed them in a Riyadh women’s shelter.
The two women, identified as Reem, 21, and Nouf, 19, were murdered after they left the shelter July 5.
The brother shot them in the presence of their father who, according to newspaper reports, quickly forgave the son because he was defending the family’s honor….
“The hands of the religious police, as well as the brother’s hands, are stained with the blood of these innocent young women,” the group said in a statement. “These women have not committed any crime to be killed in a such brutal way.”
Under Saudi Arabia’s Islamic sharia legal code, unrelated men and women are not allowed to be together, and the religious police actively enforce the rules by patrolling areas frequented by young people.
“Arresting women for mingling with (unrelated males) should be stopped because it puts many Saudi women in danger and sometimes (costs) them their lives,” the statement said.
“This act has nothing to do with the religion of Islam or Saudi tradition.”…