Islam and Honor Killings (Revised)

By Imam Zaid on 13 December 2007

For that reason, we ordained for the Children of Israel that whoever kills a soul for other than murder or spreading corruption in the land, it is as if he has killed the whole of humanity… Qur’an 5:35

One of the gravest charges levied against Islam, in terms of its alleged antipathy towards women, is the claim that it encourages a phenomenon known as honor killings. This un-Islamic practice consists of the murder of female family members who are seen as dishonoring their families through real or perceived acts of indiscretion, such as premarital sexual relations or unapproved dating. This charge has been intensified recently due to the tragic murder of a Pakistani Canadian teenage girl, Aqsa Parvez.

The practice of honor killings has absolutely no sanction in the Qur’an, the Prophetic practice, or in the evolved systems of Islamic law. In the case of fornication or adultery, the only way a charge can be levied against an individual, male or female, is through confession, which is discouraged, or by four people actually witnessing the male organ penetrating the female. Even if four people witnessed a naked man engaged with a naked woman, but could not actually testify that they witnessed penetration, their testimony would be rejected.

In a somewhat related issue, it should be noted that in three of the four Sunni schools of law, as is the case with all of the major Shiite schools, pregnancy is not a proof of fornication, as the possibility of rape exists in such a case. Therefore, if a single woman were to become pregnant, according to the overwhelming majority of Islamic jurists, there is no basis for punishing her. In the few well-publicized instances where a pregnant woman has been threatened with death, the minority opinion of the Maliki School of law was unjustly evoked, as occurred in Nigeria, or criminal malfeasance occurred as is the case in Pakistan.

In the case of dating, there is no Islamically-mandated punishment for a male or a female seeing a member of the opposite sex against the wishes of their families. Such situations should be handled with counseling, compassion and a healthy dose of common sense. Muslim immigrants who have migrated to the West should realize that they have placed their children in an environment where there is a tremendous amount of anti-Islamic peer pressure. This is especially true if they have placed their children, as was the case of the young lady who was recently murdered in Canada, in public schools. Children who succumb to that pressure should not be seen as “bad” kids, for by the standards of the society that has shaped them, no matter how strong their home environment is, they are normal. To kill a female guilty of an offense such as dating or dressing like her peers under such circumstances is nothing short of cold-blooded murder, and no Islamic authority can argue otherwise.

The overwhelming majority of Muslim societies are free from the practice of honor killing, although it does endure in some parts of the Middle East and South Asia. According to statistics released by the United Nations in 2000 there are approximately 5,000 deaths annually from “honor” killings. Even if one killing occurred due to such barbarity, it would be one too many, as the Qur’an emphasizes.

However, to use the existence of such killings to smear Islam shows the desperation and misplaced priorities of many of those levying such attacks. Most of those deaths are the pathetic acts of sick individuals, who are far removed from the letter, as we have shown above, and the spirit of Islam. An example of such an individual is Muhammad Riaz, a British Muslim of South Asian descent who died as a result of a fire he set to burn to death his wife and four daughters, allegedly because his wife resisted his attempt to arrange marriages for his daughters. His wife and daughters did perish in that fire. To present Riaz, whose daughters had neither fornicated nor dated, as anything other than a sick individual is a sad attempt to defame Islam.

To attack Islam from this angle is a case of misplaced priorities because it can distract attention from far graver abuses of women that demand immediate redress. For example, the State Department estimates that approximately 800,000 women and girls are trafficked as sexual slaves annually. The overwhelming majority of these females are taken from and sent to nominally Christian countries.

Over the last five years well over one thousand women have been kidnapped and then gruesomely murdered in Guatemala. Their bodies usually turn up after a few days, mutilated and in some instances with messages such as “death to bitches” written on them. To date only three men have been incarcerated in connection with those attacks. Would it be proper to thereby conclude that the “Christians” of Guatemala, an overwhelmingly Christian nation, have no regard for the suffering of their women? Of course it would not.

At the end of the day, attacks such as the one that resulted in the death of Aqsa Parvez are acts of domestic violence resulting from rage that emanates from a total neglect of Islamic teachings. Ms. Parvez lost her life due to such violence and perhaps there are a few other instances where Muslims women in Canada or here in the United States, have been similarly victimized. However, these instances should be kept in perspective. In the United States there are approximately 1,200 women killed every year by their husbands or intimate partners. There are other “Christian” nations where murders of this type are even higher.

The United States, Guatemala, and other countries we could mention where similar abuses occur are Christian nations. However, it would be disingenuous to use such statistics as an indictment against Christianity. These issues are an affront to humanity and require our collective attention. Until we all view the problem this way, we are in jeopardizing the health and integrity of our society.

Saying this is not to minimize the gravity of so-called honor killings to the extent that they do occur in Muslim societies. As Muslims, we are commanded to be committed to justice. That commitment entails that as a community we oppose in the strongest terms “honor” killings and take immediate action to end such a practice in our communities.

Practical steps include the following:

1. Emphasize that such killings have no sanction in the Qur’an, the Prophetic practice, or in Islamic law.
2. Declare anyone guilty of involvement in honor killings to be a cold-blooded murderer.
3. Encourage judicial authorities to enact the harshest penalties possible for anyone accused of involvement in such killings.
4. Educate our Muslim communities, especially in the West, about the un-Islamic nature of honor killings, and the pressures, nuances, challenges and complications facing young Muslims, male and female in the West.
5. Work to eliminate the double standards, and to expose the hypocrisy that exist in our communities, generally, concerning attitudes and standards relating to the indiscretions of males as opposed to females.

In conclusion, Islam honors the female, and values femininity. It is up to every Muslim to translate teachings in that regard into a beautiful reality that helps to elevate the status of women in all societies. Honor killings, domestic violence in general, murders of the type terrorizing women in Guatemala, female sexual slavery and trafficking, pornography, especially its more violent manifestations, are all crimes against humanity that we should oppose in the strongest terms and work strenuously to eliminate. If our women are not safe, physically, emotionally, spiritually, or psychologically we are all at risk, for without women men are incomplete, and without men women are incomplete. Our Prophet, peace and blessings of God upon him alluded to this complementariness when he said, peace upon him, “Women are the complimenting halves of men.” Let us all work harder to make our societies whole.

comments

By Tamara on December 14, 2007 -- 11:40am

Dear Imam Shakir:

Sallam allykum. I am very pleased with this very fair and wonderful article. You discussed it in a outstanding way. I grew up in Jordan, where honour killings are common. Girls lost their lives for rumors, or even mistakes and rape. And the problem is that the law there gives immunity to the murderer and he gets few months in Jail only. When the goverment tried to change the law, it was rejected by the Islamists inthe parliment! So how do you explain that contradiction? Also in Sheikh Hamza’s program Rihla on MBC, he only discussed domestic violence and never mentioned anything about honour killings, which was a disappointment to many women, Although this subject was discusssed in the Rihla’s blog by many women, including me. I thank you that you have opened a doomed subject that other imams just try to avoid it because they feel that they will loose their popularity. I am glad you stood up for the truth and justice. However, how can you prevent such actions against women when the majority of the imams keep mentioning that women are Shaitans and that women with no hijab are a sexual object? and how can you convince a teenager living in this country not to engage in these practices or even wear the hijab and keep on being discriminated against? I have found out after living here and in the Middle East that women there are discriminated against because they are women, and muslim women are discriminated against here in the west because they are Muslims! and the issue of female Muslim Identity cannot be resloved!

Thank you

By ERS on December 14, 2007 -- 1:41pm

Some of us know “honor” killings pre-date Islam by centuries and, in fact, are un-Islamic.

But there is a problem, Imam Zaid. When I recently conducted a nationwide survey on “honor” killings in Jordan, over 20% of my representative sample of respondents told me they believe Islam tells them they must avenge affronts to family honor by killing. So there is a dire need for mosque education if we want to prevent even a fraction of these people from acting on this belief.

Ellen R. Sheeley, Author
“Reclaiming Honor in Jordan”

By Mai El-Sadany on December 16, 2007 -- 9:15am

Jazakum Allahu Khairan Imam Zaid for the wonderful piece. I’ve always wanted to hear a strong point of view on honor killings coming from such a renowned source :)

By Sana Muhammad on December 16, 2007 -- 9:52am

Assalam o Alykum,
Its really a nice article from Imam Ziad Shakir.But I wanna say that our duty is not finished by writing or reading articles but we should do some practicle work by educating our societies specially students and teachers of Islam.
Thank You.

By Talib on December 16, 2007 -- 4:51pm

As-salamu ‘aleikum,

I say this in the strongest terms I can muster: God bless you, Imam Zaid. God bless you.

By Ali on December 17, 2007 -- 7:18am

Asalaamu ‘alaikum,
Thank you Imam Zaid for the very insightful article.
In response to Sana Muhammad’s response above, please note that the article did conclude with many practical steps for us to follow.

By Momina Mir on December 17, 2007 -- 8:00am

Assalam u Alaikum Br. Zaid

Jazakallah Khair for such a detailed discussion about honor killings and how they are not justified in Islam. Several non-muslim colleagues of mine have read your article and have appreciated a Muslim’s point of view .. over the hundreds of islamophobic remarks that are being made in the media everywhere. Its very helpful for Muslim youth like myself to educate ourselves on the position Islam takes on honor killings and then for us to be able to discuss this with non-muslim peers that ask us about it.

I would request that when you have time, could you please also writeIslam’s view on the Hijab, why we wear it, the benefits etc because the media has made it sound as if the murder of Aqsa Parvez was because she didnt wear the hijab and cover herself properly. There is a backlash against all the Muslim women that wear the hijab and i find myself having to justify it a lot lately. Would really like to be able to do it properly.

By tsaracen on December 17, 2007 -- 11:33am

Assalamu alaikum,

Jazak Allah khayr, May ur words reach the farthest corners of all countries
Islamic and most importantly non-muslim countries.

Islam is love of Allah and all his creations-Human,animal, plants, seen and unseen creatures..Muslim and Non-muslim. May the Love of Allah and islam win over the ignorance of Man and his vices

Jazak Allah khayr

By Ibrahim on December 18, 2007 -- 8:07am

Jazakallahukhairan for the article and especially for the practical steps outlined that we can take to improve our society…

From what ERS said, I think number 4 is the most crucial (IMO the difference between the “Muslim” doing it and the human traffickers doing it is that Muslims are finding a way to justify it) at this time…

By khadijah on December 18, 2007 -- 8:34am

Assalaamu alaykum

Jazakallah for this piece. This topic is oft evaded, perhaps, like opinions on suicide bombing, people are in two minds and don’t know where Islam stands regarding the matter - because of their very constricted black and white acquired stance on Islam. Some immigrants, and I can only speak from my asian extraction, who, on shifting to the west, continue to live in this bubble of innocence and are unaware that their children could ever be caught in the depravity of the culture after the disciplinal upbringing. Their parents’ shock to learn this however can lead to heinous consequences, even death at an extreme level.

the practical steps recommended by the imam if but into action would be an excellent start to ending this barbaric tradition. On top of this, the relationship of parents and their children on coming to the west should not be one of distrust and suspicion, this can only be circular in causing detachment on both sides. While it is unfortunate that many of our young brothers and sisters are trapped in unislamic activities at universities etc, if fellow muslims are seen as nonjudgemental or if the parents can be seen to be receptive beacons to the child’s anxieties and confusion, rather than stern silhouettes in the shadows, insha’Allah the child will willingly change his/her ways and sincerely repent to our Lord swt rather than simply being censured from doing a wrong, all the while planning on how to commit it again without even coming near to understanding what they are doing that is so wrong or how to get out of the spiral.

By Nermina on December 19, 2007 -- 7:07am

Esselamu Alaikum.

May Allah bless you and your family. As muslim woman in the west I was very pleased to bump into this article defending Islam it’s pure teachings and the integrity and importance of women around the world. I emailed it to my brother as soon as i read it, for unfortunately he needs the da’wa. Last week my dearest brother had sent me an article from the New York Times written by this Dutch representative of some sort (I don’t really know his title) that attacked islam on the basis of the honor killings. He also attacked of what he so called the “modorate muslims.” He claimed that these moderate muslims who are defending Islam and emphasizing the peace of Islam are nowwhere to be found when it comes to the killings of innocent women. He concluded that there must not be any since they’re not willing to stand up for their fellow muslim women. Anyway, it just shows how uneducated people are when it comes to Islam, ufortunately even muslims are included in this category. I wanted to respond to him and say no, this is not true, but I had no core facts. I erased him from my email right before I read your article. I wish I had his information to respond to him now. InshaAllah I will try and find him and respond with this wonderful article of yours.

By Elias on December 19, 2007 -- 9:20am

Dear Sir, you have hit the nail on the head by increasing the awareness that people in the West should stop beating on a dead camel and use the same cliche over and over again, that is blame Muslims for all the woes of humanity instead of holding individuals accountable and sometimes groups that instigate hatred.

I was similarly devastated by the tragic event and believe me it literally hit home because I am in Canada. Many talk show hosts are merely demagogues who regurgitate the above-mentioned cliche and conveniently ignore the fact that on our own turf there was a lunatic who killed 49 women yet Muslims did not rush to label Picktall as a blood-sucking Christian vampire, because frankly he is not a Christian and I would be offended to call him a Christian. It would have done your article even more jsutice if you had included it this gruesome story too.

Thank you and Merry Xmas to all fellow Christians and Happy Eid to all fellow Muslims as well as Happy Belated Hanukah to Jews.

Regards,

Elias!

By Jamal on December 19, 2007 -- 9:26am

it has to be noted that According to government figures in Britain around 7,000-10,000 of people are killed in honour killing in western culture, men killing their spouse for havibg affair and in some cases women killing their men for the same reason, though less in number than men. most of these killings has to do with psychological tension that naturally arise’s from these circumstances. Islam prevents it by forbidding Khalwa, and practicing purdah.

By conspirisi on December 19, 2007 -- 3:09pm

an interesting piece. But non-muslims would be forgiven for thinking that the piece was coloured with romantacism. For example in the piece it says.

“The overwhelming majority of Muslim societies are free from the practice of honor killing, although it does endure in some parts of the Middle East and South Asia. According to statistics released by the United Nations in 2000 there are approximately 5,000 deaths annually from �honor� killings.”

Surely that is a non-sequitor. The numbers could possibly have been dismissed with ‘murder by other causes’ more convincingly - ‘honor’ killings unlike those 1200 killed in the states are premeditated and often with the collusion of several family members.

My intention is not to undermine, but to look at other explanations. Islam is a high place. Contemporary muslim culture hasn’t got there yet, or any where near. Perhaps it better admitting it, than making excuses for it as it’s counter productive.

By Nour on December 22, 2007 -- 8:02am

Alsalam allaykom wa rahmat Allah wa baraktoh,,,,,,,,
I really THANK Imam zaid for this article, which shows the real picture of Islam, the forgiveness and the importance of women in the society, but unfortunately as mentioned in my Arab country, men just act as monsters when they doubt in a girl that she is involved with someone, and just exaggerate the whole thing while there is nothing, the girl is just innocent.
From my point of view, Arab society are always afraid on there daughters to make mistakes with men, it is normal for a certain degree, but what happened with us that the parents make a boundaries, heavy one on her mind ,on the way she think ,on her life and thinking they are doing the best for their children , while it is not because the girl in the teenage get interested in other sex and it is normal , we could not ignore this facts , we can not change our God create, and unfortunately the knowledge that the girl want regarding this matter get it form wrong sources.
Sex, honor killing, even the girl here self is like a night mare for the most Arab parents which prevent them for raising and directing their children the correct way , I mean is there a better source regarding the sexual health and information than the mother for the girls and than the father for the boys ??????????????

really believe that we are in a denial state regarding this issue , I mean I could not image going to my mother and ask her about Honor killing , it is going a shame on me !!!!!!! Or I could make a terrible mistake so it’s better not to ask the closest woman in my life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We really need a lot of courage to discuss such issue in the Arab world.
There is another thing regarding this issue, in my country there are many envy and bad people who just accuse an innocent girl in fornication or even a trial to fornicate, just to hurt her and collapse her life , and you can not imagine the devastating consequences that happen for the girl, even if she doesn’t killed but she will live her life depressed .

By Mehmood on December 27, 2007 -- 7:29am

You might consider the following pages that I have written and which is included in advice to British police on these and other matters
http://www.muslimsinbritain.org/guide/text038006.htm
and
http://www.muslimsinbritain.org/guide/text038007.htm

I have concentrated on practical community action and tackling misconceptions, rather than discussion of Islam’s moral position, because my readership requires practical assistance. I did write\"some ethnic groups within the Muslim community are very much more prone to domestic violence than others” - I could be more explicit and say “Punjabi (Muslim, Sikh and Hindu - DV seems to be endemic in Punjabi families); Kurdish and Levantine (Palestinian, Lebanese, Jordanian etc). It would be interesting to read what others think.

salaams
Mehmood

By N.M. on December 27, 2007 -- 1:58pm

Salam Alaykom,

First I really thank Imam Zaid for this article and wish that all Muslim could read it to clear all the misconception about Islam that the Arab believe and do criminals under the name of Allah.

I want to share you my own experience and show you how Arab really have no mercy for the girls:
Im a girl, 23 years old, live in Arab country, my story started 4 months ago. I worked at a bank for a year and I was not friendly with the employees because I don�t find my self comfortable in mixed environment. That made them hated me for no worthy reason, but because I was not one of them, they thought that im conceited but im not.
My relationship with my manager was not good with me because I was not responsive with him, you know I was at the office with him and he spend most time working for late night and he was so impolite with me , his looks at my body , was killing me .
I could not stand it, this made me crazy and made me rude with him, but useless he was very rude as he had a power in the bank. I tried to find another job but useless. And this entire bad environment made me uncomfortable at my work and made many mistakes at work which made the manager to get mad of me. I stayed there for one year, and one day I asked the cleaning guy about the shop that he bought the cleaning stuff from it, as it was really very good one in order to buy it buy for Mum, then he gave me a paper that included the address of the shop and a mobile number for the owner, my manager saw me while im taking the paper from the cleaning guy and think that I was try to set up a date with him, I told him exactly what happened but useless he did not believe me.

Then he told everybody, and most was shocked because they know that im a good girl, but you how men don�t believe that there is a good girl and it were a chance to get revenge of me, because they thought I was acting the polite role. After all of that all the men employees started annoying me and acting in a very dirty way just to see if im a good or not, at first I was able to defend my self but then I got afraid and tired and before 2 weeks for leaving the bank, I could not tell you what I heard from the employees “they were disrespectful and pitches.

After that I started a new work, but unfortunately, they knew about what happened in the bank and off course believe all the lies about me, and started acting disrespectfully just to see if im a good one or not, it is not just that, the bank hired people to annoy me in the town and to follow me where ever I go, they told all the town that im a very bad girl who have no virtue, al the people dealt with me bad, very bad way, then I could not stand all this and quit from my job.

Then start working again, but useless, because all Arab men are the same, just think that the girl is a stupid and weak creature who could make mistakes easily, therefore I decided to quite again.

No one know that Im honored student, got high distinction in the university and responsible for financing my Family because my father is dead. No one is interested to know the truth about me, for now the guys are still following me and say bad things about me and harm my reputation.

This is my story, which shows the Arab perspective for woman and how they act like monsters against the girl even she is innocent thinking that they are really Muslims.
If you could know how much im desperate and very sad and even afraid. Please pray for me.
And thank you for giving me this opportunity to share my story with you.

By Law School Blog on January 4, 2008 -- 3:01pm

See our site for commentary.

By Imam Zaid on January 4, 2008 -- 10:13pm

As-Salaam ‘Alaikum N.M.

May Allah bless you and give you the respect you deserve. May you continue to display the great dignity you have demonstrated throughout the ordeal you have undergone and may you be blessed with a better work environment. Our prayers are with you.

Conspirisi

Thank you for the insightful comment. The Muslim world is extremely vast spanning from Morocco to the southern Phillipines. In most of this area “honor” killing is not a problem to the extent that it is in the areas I indicated. The UN number of 5000 was accepted for the sake of argument and a serious research project could justifiably be undertaken to examine the underlying causes of killings that do occur, or the accuracy of the numbers. I am not trying to make excuses for anybody, I am trying to demonstrate what the Islamic ideal is and make a small contribution towards helping our community move closer to that ideal. It should be noted that in areas of the Muslim world where there are significant Christian populations, such as Lebanon and Syria, “honor” killings are also common among those Christians. Violence against women, of various types, is a universal phenomenon and we have to all work to eliminate it.

By MM on January 10, 2008 -- 5:50pm

I just want to say that the problem is that this blog is going to be read by muslims who will never even think about doing this kind of thing.

How can we get through to people who need help in this regard! These are the ones who need to know the teachings of islam not the middle classes who will take the time out to find this blog!

How can these people be reached??

By Russell R Cohen on May 9, 2008 -- 8:41am

Guys, what is MBC?