Islamic honor killings - why the perps get off easy?

So the last 6 or 7 posts of our young islamist friends here are all about whining about the professor who wrote that study. Is that all you have?

At least Mathloom is honest enough to say that the problem exists. If I understand correctly, he disputes that it has anything to do with Islam, and rather says it stems from pre-islamic Arabic culture and just overlaps with predominantly muslim countries because Arabic culture has latched on to how Islam is practiced. He claims and stresses that there is nothing in Islamic sources of religion (Quran, Hadith) that would condone honor killings, on the contrary.

I disagree with this - in my eyes - arbitrary distinction between culture and religion, because the religion is so all-encompassing in these countries that it cannot be separated from the culture there. I understand and acknowledge his point that this custom originated before Islam even existed, and that the Islamic written, original sources of religion do not condone this. But at least he makes an argument that deals with the issue, and he does not try to make a silly argument about statistics - it is absolutely obvious that this is a practice that is most prevalent among families who happen to be Muslim.

All the attempts by the other young islamists to open a separate argument about statistics by smearing the professor who wrote this report just show a stubborn desperation, unwillingness and inability to discuss the actual issue.

 

They are not false.

 

So you found a blog article that smears this professor with totally unproven assertions?

It's interesting that the same posters who claim islamist terrorism has "nothing to do with islam" also are up in arms about pretending that "honor killings" either do not exist (Hydhypedplaya, etc.) or "have nothing to do with islam" (Mathloom) when all statistical evidence points to the contrary in both cases.

I guess with 9/11 and London and Madrid bombings it is even harder to pretend that it didn't even happen. Domestic murders in the name of islam or in families that "happen to be muslim" are more easily swept under the rug, and people like Hydhypedplaya are trying really hard to keep it that way.

Here is another female author you can try to discredit and smear:

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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2008/01/23/cstillwell.DTL

Honor killings: When the ancient and the modern collide

Throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe, young Muslim women are being targeted for violence. Lest it be thought hate crimes are to blame, it is, in fact, their own relatives who are the perpetrators. So-called honor killings, whereby a Muslim male family member, typically the father, murders his daughter in order to defend the family's honor, is a growing problem.

While statistics are notoriously hard to come by due to the private nature of such crimes and the fact that very few are reported, the United Nations Population Fund approximates that as many as 5,000 women are murdered in this manner each year worldwide. Undoubtedly that's a low estimate, as reports from Turkey, Jordan, Pakistan and the Palestinian territories, among other locales, are filtering in at an alarming rate. Add to the list Germany, Sweden, other parts of Europe, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States, and it's clear that young Muslim women in the West are becoming increasingly vulnerable.

While fathers are commonly responsible for honor killings, they often act in concert with their daughters' brothers, uncles, and even female relatives. For infringements upon a Muslim daughter's "honor" constitute the greatest humiliation possible to the religious and tribal tradition from which many such immigrant families emerged. Acts that demand "punishment" include refusing to wear a hijab (or headscarf), having non-Muslim boyfriends or male friends of any origin, being sexually active, rejecting arranged marriages, aggressively seeking employment and education, and, more than anything else, attempting to assimilate into Western culture.

Trying to balance a tightrope between the demands of competing and in some cases incompatible cultures, young Muslim women in the West are caught between two worlds. And all too often they pay the ultimate price. Indeed, two such cases have rocked the United States and Canada in recent months, bringing the specter of honor killings much closer to home.

On New Year's Day, residents of Lewisville, Texas were shocked to hear about the brutal murder of teenage sisters Sarah and Amina Said. The two were found shot to death in a taxi after having made a last phone call to a police dispatcher asking for help. The police immediately issued an arrest warrant for the girls' father, Egyptian-born cab driver Yaser Abdel Said, who remains at large to this day.

A Muslim married to a Christian woman, the elder Said had a history of physical and sexual abuse toward his daughters. This past Christmas, his wife, Patricia, finally fled the state with the girls and set up residence in Tulsa, Okla., under an assumed name. Said's violent and domineering behavior was apparently motivated by his concern that, as the Dallas Morning News describes it, "Western culture was corrupting the chastity of his daughters." Honor students and athletes at Lewisville High School, Sarah and Amina were the quintessential American teenagers. Amina had been awarded a $20,000 college scholarship and Sarah planned to study medicine. Photos of the two young women demonstrate a vibrancy and attractiveness that undoubtedly induced fear in their controlling father. The emergence of non-Muslim boyfriends was the final straw.

Although the girls' mother denied that Said was motivated by religion or culture and their brother, Islam, claimed it was not an honor killing, all evidence points to the contrary. While, reportedly, the family was not terribly observant, Said, as described by the Dallas Morning News, "often espoused his version of traditional Middle Eastern values," including marrying his then 15-year-old wife when he was 30, threatening to take one of his daughters "back to Egypt and have her killed," where, as he put it, "it's OK to do that ... if you dishonor your family," trying to break up one of his daughters and her non-Muslim boyfriend, and threatening to kill both his daughters on multiple occasions over disputes surrounding their social lives. Summing it all up, the sisters' great-aunt Gail Gartrell stated unequivocally, "This was an honor killing."

The slayings of Sarah and Amina Said came on the heels of another apparent honor killing, that of 16-year-old Aqsa Parvez in Mississauga, Ontario, last December. Aqsa was a vivacious and popular young woman whose attempts at a normal, Western teenage social life angered her Pakistani father, Muhammad Parvez. Aqsa, who was opposed to wearing a hijab and sometimes changed her outfit once she got to school, often clashed with her father and had left the family home a week before the attack out of fear. But she eventually returned, only to be met with strangulation at the hands of her own father. She died later in the hospital and the elder Parvez, who initially called the police, was charged with her murder. Aqsa's 26-year-old brother, Waqas, was charged with obstructing police.

Like the Said sisters, Aqsa had long suffered abuse at the hands of her father, reports of which were never adequately pursued by Canadian authorities. But Aqsa's friends saw trouble brewing and, according to the National Post, noted that "she had been threatened by her strictly religious family before." According to one of them, Ebonie Mitchell, Aqsa held conflicting opinions with her family on wearing a hijab. As she put it, Aqsa "just wanted to dress like we do. Last year, she wore like the Islamic stuff and everything, the hijab, and this year she's all western. She just wanted to look like everyone else." As another friend, Krista Garbhet, noted, "She just wanted to be herself; honestly, she just wanted to show her beauty." However, as Aqsa was to discover, the latter desire can have dangerous consequences for young Muslim women in the West.

In the wake of Parvez's murder, one would hope for moral clarity from the Canadian Muslim community. But with a few exceptions, the usual suspects issued the usual apologetics.

Following Parvez's funeral, an anti-violence vigil was held at the Mississauga Civic Centre and organized by the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations. Unfortunately, CAIR-CAN, like its American counterpart, is part of the problem, not the solution. Working to further acceptance of Sharia (or Islamic) law in the United States and Canada and trying to silence — either through accusations of "Islamophobia," libel lawsuits or boycotts — voices of criticism and reform, CAIR's agenda would seem to be working against the advancement of Muslim women's rights.

Accordingly, representatives of other allegedly mainstream Muslim groups, instead of taking the opportunity to address the scourge of honor killings, downplayed the religious and cultural angle. Shahina Siddiqui, president of the Islamic Social Services Association, claimed that "The strangulation death of Ms. Parvez was the result of domestic violence, a problem that cuts across Canadian society and is blind to color or creed," while Sheikh Alaa El-Sayyed, imam of the Islamic Society of North America in Mississauga, came to the following conclusion: "The bottom line is, it's a domestic violence issue."

In contrast, Canadian Muslim reformer Irshad Manji, in addressing Aqsa Parvez's murder, put it like so:

Moderate Muslims have warned that we shouldn't leap to conclusions. Who knows what other dynamics infected her family, spout hijab-hooded mouthpieces on Canadian TV. Not once have I heard these upstanding Muslims say that whatever the 'family dynamics,' killing is not a solution. Ever. How's that for basic morality?
Similarly, Tarek Fatah, founder of the Canadian Muslim Congress, labeled Parvez's murder "a blight on Islam." "In my mind," he added, "this was an honor killing."

Until this kind of self-reflection and self-criticism become the norm in the Muslim community, much-needed reform will remain elusive. This includes addressing the root causes of honor killings and sanctioned violence against Muslim women. Although the Koran does not authorize honor killings, Quran 4:34 instructs men to beat disobedient wives and send them to sleep in separate beds. Then there are tribal leaders such as Jordanian Tarrad Fayiz, who tells followers that "A woman is like an olive tree. When its branch catches woodworm, it has to be chopped off so that society stays clean and pure." Op-eds such as the one in the Yemen Times earlier this month recommending violence against women and clerics delivering sermons and speeches doing the same further muddy the waters.

Also at question are the vagaries of the Arab honor/shame culture, in which men's "shame" (or that of the family or tribe) at the prospect of women's sullied "honor" (or chastity) must be avoided at all costs. Honor killings are not, as the apologists would have us believe, simple acts of domestic violence akin to those that take place in all communities. They are specific to Muslim religion and culture and must be addressed as such if ever honest debate about the matter is to ensue.

Regrettably, silence is the more typical reaction to these crimes. Fearful of giving offense or being branded with the ubiquitous "Islamophobia" label, law enforcement, journalists, social workers, government officials and, most of all, Western feminists are allowing a grave threat to women's rights go unaddressed. The misguided purveyors of multiculturalism — an ideology that holds that all cultures or religions are equivalent and none (save for the dominant, or Western, culture) worthy of condemnation — have rendered the West incapable of addressing evils where Third World cultures are to blame. But the truth is Western culture offers the greatest boon to women's rights and must therefore be vigorously defended, even if that means stepping into the realm of the politically incorrect.

Feminist groups such as the National Organization for Women, which put out an occasional press release decrying honor killings, need to make combating this practice as high a priority as defending choice and railing against "glass ceilings." Instead, it is a precious few who are telling it like it is when it comes to the oppression of women in Muslim culture. Ironically, many of them are on the right side of the political spectrum or, like author, blogger and activist Phyllis Chesler, have been cast out of the leftist-dominated feminist movement for speaking the uncomfortable truth.

As I have noted previously, the challenges posed by the Muslim world are the next frontier for women's rights and all those interested in advancing such goals will have to rise to the occasion. It is up to every one of us to speak out where, not only women's, but human rights are in question. Young women's lives are at stake.

Cinnamon Stillwell is a San Francisco writer. She can be reached at cinnamonstillwell@yahoo.com. She also writes for the blog at campus-watch.org.

 

Here are some more statistics from a book written by a Jordan muslim woman - maybe this is more credible to our young angry islamists (although doubtful, as it is "only" a woman who writes this, right? ).

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http://www.annaqed.com/en/content/show.aspx?aid=16277

“Murder in the Name of Honor”

Apologists for Islam have been promoting a new mantra that instructs non-Muslims to accept and respect the anti-humanitarian prerogatives of Muslims, because those practices will never change and because failure to do so is undemocratic and illiberal. Not only is speaking out against certain barbaric practices being prosecuted (as with the Netherlands’ Geert Wilders) but any criticism of Islam is condemned as racist and Islamophobic. In view of this, it is important to consider an excellent new book by a Jordanian Muslima, Rana Husseini, titled, “Murder in the Name of Honor – The True Story of One Woman’s Heroic Fight Against an Unbelievable Crime.” It is an account of her own experiences since beginning a journalism career with the English language The Jordan Times some 15 years ago. A graduate of Oklahoma City University, Rana felt called to cover women’s issues in a country where women’s rights were clearly given more attention than in most countries in the Middle East. Even Jordan’s Queen Noor lent her influence and support to a campaign to change Jordan’s laws which protect male relatives who murder women to save their family’s honor. But her book goes beyond the problems in Jordan. Honor killing is endemic throughout the Middle East, and it is spreading elsewhere as immigrants come into Europe and North America. Rana’s outrage over honor killing cannot be called racist or Islamophobic, and it underscores the need in all societies to distinguish between cultural norms and criminal behavior.

Rana’s book is filled with scores of detailed case histories of horrific and senseless murders of young women to protect or restore the family honor. Here is just one abbreviated account that is chilling in its scope:

The parents of twenty-three-year-old Rania had arranged her future marriage to a cousin when she was quite young. While attending university, however, she fell in love with an Iraqi student named Khaled. She felt no attraction to her cousin who was more like a brother to her, so as the long-planned wedding date approached, she ran away from home and moved in with Khaled.

Rania appealed to her family to understand, and her impassioned letter was read over national television: “Father, mother, brothers and sisters . . you are all dear to me and I need you. I am ready to return home this moment but I want a promise from you that you will not force me to marry my cousin.”

Her father called the television station promising not to harm their daughter and that the wedding plans had been cancelled. He said, “I am urging you from a father’s heart that is bleeding tears and blood over your absence, come home and God and I will forgive you. I will do whatever you wish even if it costs me dear.” The father even signed a JD5,000 ($7,500) bond with the police guaranteeing that he would not harm his daughter. “Just hand her over to me and I will take good care of her. I will protect her.”

Two weeks later after returning home, Rania’s two aunts told her they’d taken pity on her and arranged a secret meeting with her boyfriend Khaled. As they walked near some railway lines, the aunts suddenly ran off. Instead of finding Khaled, Rania saw her seventeen-year-old brother Rami waiting for her. He pulled out a pistol, and fired 5 shots into his sister, the last one point-blank through her forehead.

A medical examination indicated that Rania was still a virgin. Rania, an innocent child, had been betrayed by the closest members of her family. Her father, out of town when the murder took place, escaped prosecution. Her brother Rami, a minor, was sentenced to only six months in jail. ​

In case after case, in country after country, the picture that Rana paints is consistently misogynic, cruel, and seeped in the notion that family honor can be preserved or restored by killing the “deviant” women in the family. In reality, the families never regain their honor after killing a member, and agony spreads from one generation to the next. Here are some of the common elements of honor killing:

1. Women are Targets -- The family’s honor is somehow tied up in the virtue and obedience of the women in the family. Women are the only targets of honor killings. The sense of family honor is heightened when immigrant families are living in Western countries, because their minority status and their sometimes disadvantaged situations make pride in the family that much more important to their personal self-worth.

2. Reasons for Honor Killing Often Trivial -- Women have been murdered for the most trivial of reasons – marrying out of love instead of submitting to an arranged marriage, suspected loss of virginity (which often proves to be mistaken), staying out too late, or even wearing jeans. Sometimes the honor killing is done merely to increase the inheritance of the remaining siblings.

3. Women are Often Lured Back Home to be Killed -- Often when a woman has shamed the family and goes into hiding, there is a concerted effort by the family to show her that all is forgiven and that the family is ready to welcome her back. This is often a ruse to lure the woman out of seclusion so that she can be killed.

4. Community Pressure to Cleanse Family Honor -- There is tremendous community pressure on families to cleanse their family honor by killing the wayward women. From cases Rana has documented, the family was often remorseful over the outcome but felt they had no choice given the community pressure. Rarely, however, does the honor killing truly liberate the family from shame and regret after the murder.

5. Relative Impunity of Honor Murder -- Since Muslim countries do not prosecute honor murders as seriously as other murders, there is no effective deterrent to carrying out these heinous acts. A few months in prison is seen as a reasonable trade-off for restoring the family’s honor. Immigrants often do not appreciate that North American and European counties usually (but not always) give no special consideration to honor murderers. When immigrants realize this, however, they often take their women back to their native countries for the honor killing because the murder will receive a much lighter punishment there. Officials in the UK are becoming increasingly aware of this problem. In Bedford alone, three hundred South Asian girls between ages thirteen and sixteen have disappeared off the school registers.

6. Social Workers Exacerbate the Problems -- In Western countries, family social service organizations often lack an understanding of Islamic law and cultural dynamics of immigrant populations. Western civilization is appealing to immigrant women because it promises more independence and equality, while at the same time the men develop stronger attachments to the security of their old patriarchal system. The immigrants do not always appreciate that the police have different views about “honor killing” than those in their native countries, so women don’t seek help and men often act with the assumption of impunity. Government protective services often apply a double standard to violence immigrant communities. They see honor-based violence as a cultural expression, and so they avoid getting involved with it. To make matters worse the family assistance workers often compromise the situation by using family members and religious leaders as interpreters rather than neutral parties.

7. Brothers Often Carry Out the Killing -- Families often force their teenage sons to carry out murders of sisters because they know the young offender will get a lighter sentence than the adult parents.

Honor killings are by no means aberrations or isolated events. Because honor killings are still punished to some extent even in the most authoritarian countries, the number of actual cases is severely underreported. But just to give an indication the scope of this problem, here are statistics from Rana’s book:

Jordan – no statistics on honor murders, but 97 women are in prison indefinitely for “protective custody” to prevent them from being killed by family members.
Pakistan – has the worst record in the world with over 600 cases reported in 2007
Afghanistan – with 400 honor killings in 2004 there were only 20 arrests, and all of those were given mild sentences.
Iraq – because of the ongoing insurgency and deep tribal divisions, Iraq is one of the most danger places on earth to be a woman. It is estimated that 4,000 Iraqi women have been victims of honor killings between 1990 and 2001.
Iran – Since stoning for adultery and immunity for prosecution for killing family members is part of the Penal Code, the Iranian government is complicit in carrying out these murders. In 2005, over half of the 397 women in Evin prison were awaiting death sentences for moral or sexual offences such as adultery.
Syria – between two hundred and three hundred honor killings take place each year.
Yemen – around 400 women are reported victims of honor killing each year.
Lebanon – about a dozen women die each year as a result of honor crimes.
Saudi Arabia – no statistics are available, but the government is aware that many of these honor murders are done secretly and the bodies are buried in the desert. The families usually say that the missing women are traveling or have run away.
Turkey – the Kurdish regions of Turkey have some of the highest rates of honor killings in the world. The number of women and girls murdered annually is about two hundred. In Istanbul alone there is one honor killing every week.
Egypt – in 1999 ten percent of all murders were honor killings. This may approach 100 such murders of women each year.
India – there are more than one thousand honor killings of women each year. Every six hours in India a young married woman is burned alive, beaten to death, or driven to commit suicide.
Bangladesh – out of 639 rapes committed in 2006, 126 of the victims were killed and thirteen committed suicide. In the same year, 243 dowry-related killings were reported to the police.
UK and USA – “I think most people will be truly shocked to learn the frequency with which honor killings are now occurring in Western countries. . . Unfortunately, it seems as though we will see many more horrific honor killings in the USA before policy-makers get around to legislating for their prevention.”

Throughout her book Rana uses the expression “so-called honor killing” because the real issue is control. Men who cannot control their women are seen as weak. But as UK Home Office Minister Mike O’Brien said, “Multi-cultural sensitivity is no excuse for moral blindness.” According to Rana, real honor is for women and men to get a decent education and make a contribution to society. “Real honor is about tolerance, equality, and civic responsibility.”

 

This part of the post is very good.

Let me try to understand: I think what you mean is "promoting islam" as you think it should be practiced, right? But the fact of the matter is that "islam", as you yourself say in your next post ("islamic culture is very different in Turkey and in Saudi-Arabia") can mean a lot of different things to different people.

Your posts are confusing:

When practices that are prevalent in predominantly muslim cultures get criticized, you say it has nothing to do with islam.

At the same time, you say that "the solution is promoting islam".

Well, the muftis who downplay and even encourage these acts of violence towards islamic women also say they are "promoting islam". The imam who said he cried tears of joy when Asia Bibi was sentenced to death also says he is "promoting islam". Heck, Osama Bin Laden says he is "promoting islam".

What islam are we talking about?

Also, can you please explain quran 4:34 which explicitly talks about beating women? Thanks.

Also, why do you think islam should be promoted after you just recently told us you are not a muslim?

 

Who defines islam? As there is no "Muslim pope", isn't islam in actuality and in the eyes of third parties defined through the actions of its followers and its spiritual leaders (e.g., the muftis who promote honor killings)?

Can you define what is at the core of islam vs. "islamic culture"?

I sense that we are in disagreement, but I am genuinely and respectfully trying to understand where you are coming from.

Having spent some time in Germany now (I believe you are still here), do you think that "German culture is prejudiced against other races"? Or was that just a hypothetical?

Also, would you mind explaining 4:34 and why you say promoting islam is the solution when you just told us recently that you are not a follower of islam?

Also - are you an insomniac? Honest question because you (like me) post at the craziest times.