How many references do you need? Here's one more:
Whose Honor? Muslim Women and Crimes of Honor©
By Azza Basarudin
©This paper, or parts of this paper cannot be reproduced in any form without the prior written permission of the author.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jordan:
On May 31, 1994, Kifaya Husayn, a 16-year-old Jordanian girl, was lashed to a chair by her 32-year-old brother. He gave her a drink of water and told her to recite an Islamic prayer. Then he slashed her throat. Immediately afterward, he ran out into the street, waving the bloody knife and crying, 'I have killed my sister to cleanse my honor.' Kifaya's crime? She was raped by another brother, a 21-year-old man. Her judge and jury? Her own uncles, who convinced her eldest brother that Kifaya was too much of a disgrace to the family’s honor to be allowed to live." The murderer was sentenced to fifteen years, but the sentence was subsequently reduced to seven and a half years, an extremely severe penalty by Jordanian standards.
Chicago Tribune, May 3, 1998
Lahore, Pakistan:
6 April 1999, 29-year-old Samia Sarwar, the mother of two young boys, was shot dead in the office of her lawyer. Samia was seeking a divorce after suffering years of domestic abuse from her violent husband. Her family felt that in seeking divorce, she had tarnished their honor, and for this she was brutally killed.
Amnesty International, 1999
Palestine:
A 25-year-old Palestinian who hanged his sister with a rope: "I did not kill her, but rather helped her to commit suicide and to carry out the death penalty she sentenced herself to. I did it to wash with her blood the family honor that was violated because of her and in response to the will of society that would not have had any mercy on me if I didn't . . . Society taught us from childhood that blood is the only solution to wash the honor."
Al-Ayyam, June 1, 2000
The above stories are just some examples of how and why honor killing occurs in Muslim societies. Although this practice is clearly a violation of human's rights, countless women around the world have been victims of this barbaric custom. Why? To date, the phenomenon of honor killing has become rampant, stretching from the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia, to Southeast Asia and other countries. More often than not, this practice is associated with Islam, thus, adding another inhuman practice to what is a peaceful religion. Honor Killing, which originated from tribal societies (code of honor) of Arabia and Africa is the practice of killing a female family member if she is perceive to have tarnish the family's honor by engaging in pre-marital sex, being a victim of rape, seeking divorce and marrying without family's approval. Perpetrators of this crime believe that taking someone’s life in the name of honor is allowed in Islam. I am not sure which is worse - having the perpetrators put the demands of society ahead of Islamic teachings, or having society truly believing that killing women who have supposedly “tarnish” family honor is justifiable and permissible in Islam. Therefore, how does Islam, which has given women a better status, become entangled with such cruel practice? Does Islam endorse honor killing in any way? It imperative to stress that honor killing is forbidden and unacceptable in Islam. For example:
The Prophet was asked about the great sins He said, "They are associating other objects of worship with God, disobedience to parents, murder, (emphasis mine) and deliberate perjury. (Hadith Bukhari, Muslim cf. The Islamic Page)
There is no such sanction, be it in the Qur’an or Hadith, which allows a person to take the life of another. When a woman is accused of Zina or illicit sexual behavior, the Qur’an stresses that four witnesses must have witnessed the act of sexual intercourse taking place. The Qur’an states that witnesses should not be biased in any way:
O you who believe! Stand out firmly for justice as a witness to Allah, even against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it be (against) rich or poor. For Allah can best protect both. Follow not the lust (of your hearts), lest ye swerve, and if ye distort (justice) or decline to do justice, verily, Allah is well acquainted with all that ye do. (An-Nisa 4:135).
In addition, narrated Ibn Abbas (Volume 3, Book 48, Number 837; The Islamic Page)
Hilal bin Umaiya accused his wife before the Prophet of committing illegal sexual intercourse with Sharik bin Sahma.' The Prophet said, "Produce a proof, or else you would get the legal punishment (by being lashed) on your back." Hilal said, "O Allah's Apostle! If anyone of us saw another man over his wife, would he go to search for a proof." The Prophet went on saying, "Produce a proof or else you would get the legal punishment (by being lashed) on your back." The Prophet then mentioned the narration of Lian (as in the Holy Book).
Without concrete proof to support an accusation, action cannot be taken against the accused woman.Rana Husseini, a Jordanian Human Right's activist campaigning against crimes of honor explains, “Islam is very clear about this matter (honor killing). There need to be four witnesses with good behaviors and reputation to testify to an adultery case, and even if it is proven, which is impossible because of the four witness condition, it is the law or the ruler who should rule and not the individuals. And since we have a law in our country (Jordan), individuals should not act according to their beliefs or desires. Also, Islam ruled that if anyone accuses a woman [or a man] wrongly of any moral wrongdoings, then he/she would be punished.Plus Islam always encouraged people to be discrete about such matters instead of exposing it. Islam called for peaceful settlements instead of using blood to solve any problem.” In many cases of honor killing, victims are usually accused based on word of mouth, for example, someone have seen her (the victim) engaging in inappropriate behavior. “Inappropriate behavior” (which can range from accusations of adultery, to being a mere subject of gossip) is an enough proof to trigger honor killings. This practice is clearly un-Islamic, for the Qur’an has revealed that each person will be responsible for his or her own actions, be it good or bad. According to the verse below:
Whoever receiveth guidance, receiveth it for his own benefit. Whoever goeth astray, doth so to his own loss. No bearer of burden can bear the burden of another… (Al-Isra 17: 15)
This indicates that killing another person to avenge family honor does not have its origin in Islam. Islam created man and woman as equals; therefore, no man (or woman) should claim himself responsible for the acts of another. Avenging family honor is a product of societies in which women's bodies has become a brutal tool in reproducing patriarchal control. However, the most important question is how much of these crimes are based upon tribal customs? How much is based upon the frustrations of societal pressure? The Human Rights Watch Report of 2002 indicated that in Jordan, despite an extensive grassroots public awareness and signature campaign since 1999 run by the Jordanian National Committee to Eliminate the So-called Crimes of Honor, the government failed to repeal the law that allowed for a reduced sentence for the perpetrators of "honor crimes." In 2001, at least nineteen women were reported killed in the name of honor by November, and the government had still to make good on its promise to open a shelter for women whose families threatened their lives on grounds of "honor," and continued to hold threatened women in corrections facilities. According to Rana Hussieni, today in Jordan, there are about 40 women who are spending time at women's prison without any charge or a court ruling because they became pregnant out of wedlock or were involved in immoral affairs. Some of the women have been there for over 11 years because the authorities are afraid to release them due to the possibility that their families might try to kill these women.The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1979, is meaningless if there is no full participation by Muslim countries to combat violent crimes and discrimination against women. Women deserve protection from brutality not because they are women but because they are human beings. The problem of honor killing is just one of many faced by Muslim societies and is example of how complicated women’s human rights issues are when religion is misused as an excuse to conform to certain cultural codes of society.
Based on numerous examples of honor killing cases, I argue that the act is motivated by the shame of living in a society where cultural codes of honor and shame demand such retribution. According to Schneider (1971), the concept of honor and shame in traditional societies places the burden of family honor/male honor, especially on matters, which relate to shame on their women. Youssef (1971) states that in a social structure where women’s conduct and sexual virtue reflects the honor of the men, certain rules exist in controlling male-female relationships and in ensuring that male honor is protected. Therefore, if a woman brings shame upon her family, it is seen as disgracing the whole family. In societies where honor defines group boundaries and loyalties, women’s chastity and sexuality are patrolled, and their purity maintained. Marking women’s conducts as related to male honor have not only resulted in increased violence against women but also limit women’s choices, mobility and autonomy.
In addition, the impact of modernization and globalization has altered the traditional cultural borders and boundaries (of patriarchal control; gender roles and relations, education level, etc). In suggesting that the practice of honor killing stemmed from fear that modernization has altered the boundaries of patriarchal ideology, (which consider women property of men; thus, men have the rights to decide the fate of its property) women's right to life is governed by obeying social norms. Nothing justifies honor killing, not in the name of culture, not in the name of religion and certainly not in the name of a family's honor. No human being has the right to take the life of another. Muslim societies and leaders should consider the increasing brutality against women as a serious social problem, not only because: (1) it is against the direct teachings of Islam, (2) the status of Muslim women becomes even more questionable, but also since this problem (3) creates an opening for others to continue viewing Islam as a religion that promotes violence but also since this crime hinders the social and intellectual growth of Muslim societies.
Work Cited
Ali, Abdullah Yusuf. The Glorious Quran : Text, Translation and Commentary Indiana: American Trust Publication, 1979.
Basarudin, Azza. Interview with Rana Husseini. Islamic Institute for Human Rights. July, 2002.
Hadith Bukhari, Muslim cf. The Islamic Page
Human Rights Watch Report, 2002
Schneider, Jane. “Of Vigilance and Virgins: Honor, Shame and Access to Resources in
Mediterranean Societies.” Ethnology, 10 (1971): 1-24
Youssef, Nadia. “Cultural ideals, Feminine Behavior and Family Control.” Comparative
Studies in Society and History. 13 (1971): 326-347.
**This paper is an excerpt from “Are Islam and Human Rights Compatible? Revisiting Muslim Women’s Rights”© |
