This article tells us twice that Dunleavy “misinterpreted the Qur’an.” How is it that this “misinterpretation” of the Qur’an in a way that sees it as allowing for honor killing is so widespread? After all, 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.
The Palestinian Authority gives pardons or suspended sentences for honor murders. Iraqi women have asked for tougher sentences for Islamic honor murderers, who get off lightly now. 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.”
That’s a whole lot of “misinterpretation of the Qur’an.”
“Friend claims James Dunleavy murdered mum in ‘honour killing’ because he felt she’d shamed family,” from the Daily Record, January 20 (thanks to Pamela Geller):
MOHAMMED Razaq believes Muslim convert Dunleavy misinterpreted the Koran and beheaded his mum in an honour killing after she split from his dad.
EVIL James Dunleavy beheaded his mother in an “honour killing” as he believed she had shamed the family, a former friend claims.
Irishman Dunleavy, 40 – a Muslim convert – was last week found guilty of killing 66-year-old Philomena, cutting up her body and burying her in a shallow grave.
He was ordered to be detained in the State Hospital at Carstairs before he returns to court for sentencing in April.
It has now emerged that Dunleavy may have misinterpreted the Koran and slaughtered his mother in an honour killing after she split from his dad.
Mohammed Razaq, who ran the shop below Dunleavy’s Edinburgh flat, befriended him after he moved to Scotland and helped him convert to Islam.
Razaq believes the killer felt his mother had betrayed the family by leaving his dad and going to live with another man. He said: “It’s a tragic event, I feel gutted.
“I wish it had never happened and I feel sorry for James for carrying out such a heinous crime.
“I think it was an honour killing, he was trying to protect his family’s honour.”
A source added: “James was pretty obsessed when it came to religion.
“He was brought up a Catholic but just decided one day he would convert to Islam.
“He was very, very serious about it and cared a lot about it. His faith was very important to him and he prayed five times a day.
“I can’t say if he killed his mum because he converted, but he believed very strongly in the morals of the Koran and was furious about his mum leaving his dad for someone else.
“He saw it as adultery and they had a massive argument about it.”
Dunleavy had denied murdering his mum at his home between April 30 and May 7 last year.
Her dismembered remains were discovered by a cyclist on nearby Corstorphine Hill on June 6 last year.
A jury at the High Court in Edinburgh found Dunleavy guilty of the lesser charge of culpable homicide on the grounds of diminished responsibility on Friday.