It is no accident or coincidence that Muslims commit 91 percent of honor killings worldwide. A manual of Islamic law certified as a reliable guide to Sunni orthodoxy by Al-Azhar University, the most respected authority in Sunni Islam, 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.
Syria in 2009 scrapped a law limiting the length of sentences for honor killings, but “the new law says a man can still benefit from extenuating circumstances in crimes of passion or honour ‘provided he serves a prison term of no less than two years in the case of killing.'” And in 2003 the Jordanian Parliament voted down on Islamic grounds a provision designed to stiffen penalties for honor killings. Al-Jazeera reported that “Islamists and conservatives said the laws violated religious traditions and would destroy families and values.”
Nonetheless, the media drumbeat is constant: honor killings have nothing to do with Islam. And as long as that continues, we will see more and more murders like this one.
–˜Honour” killing: Man and his friends axe his wife,” from The Express Tribune, November 10 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):
RAHIM YAR KHAN: A man axed his wife with the help of his friends after declaring her to be a “˜kari” on Wednesday.
Police officials have arrested the accused.
According to police officials, Sube Da city resident Allah Dewaya recently filed a written complaint detailing that his daughter Hajil Mai was murdered by her husband Mukhtar Ahmed. Dewaya told police officials that Mukhtar Ahmed, 22, used to torture and beat his daughter Hajil Mai. “He kept accusing her of having had an affair even though he usually kept her locked up in the house for the duration of their marriage,” he said.
On Tuesday, Ahmed allegedly announced to their neighbourhood that his wife was a “˜kari” and had an affair with their neighbour, Waleed. Waleed is said to have fled after the accusation.
Ahmed and seven of his friends slaughtered his wife in the courtyard of their house with sickles, knives and an axe.
Police officials said that there were several eyewitnesses. “He announced what he was going to do and because he is a landlord, we were too scared to interfere. Someone called the police though,” said a local resident Ashraf….