Issue No: 115
23rd March 2012
30th Rabi'al Thaani 1433 A.H.
Salamun alaykum,
Honour Killing : 8 in a day
The theme for the Panorama series on BBC One broadcasted this week on the 19th March was: 'Britain's crimes of honour.'
Shocking details of 'honour' killings, of women driven to suicide or those on the run in fear of their lives from their close family members was revealed.
No one knows how many honour crimes are there in the U.K. The latest survey of police force statistics found 2823 honour crimes per year. This amount to nearly 8 a day.
The programme exposed that the practice of honour killing runs deep in societies drawn from the Asian and Middle Eastern communities living in multicultural Britain.
The Human Rights Watch, an International Non Governmental Organisation defines honour killings as: ' ..acts of vengeance, usually death, committed by male family members against female family members, who are held to have brought dishonour upon the family. A woman can be targeted by (individuals within) her family for a variety of reasons, including: refusing to enter into an arranged marriage, being the victim of a sexual assault, seeking a divorce—even from an abusive husband—or (allegedly) committing adultery. The mere perception that a woman has behaved in a way that "dishonours" her family is sufficient to trigger an attack on her life.'
In an opinion poll of 500 British Asian men and women aged 16 – 34 years which was carried out between 23rd – 27th February, 2012 it was revealed that 2/3rd of this group agreed that family should live according to concept of 'maintaining honour'. They believe that women deserve 'physical punishment' if they dishonour their families.
Honour killing is a complicated issue. It cuts deep into a society adhering to cultural practices. Some practices of culture such as honour killing has become so intertwined in peoples' lives that they have become part of 'religion' in the society. The perpetrators of this crime in the Asian and Middle Eastern communities who happen to be followers of religion have used their religion- Hindu, Islam, Sikh- as a justification to commit the crime of honour killing. Definitely this criminal practice has no connection whatsoever with religion.
There is no injunction in the holy Quran that permits or sanctions honour killing. Every muslim is required to uphold the basic right that life is sacred as enshrined in the Holy Quran: "... whoever kills a soul other than it manslaughter or corruption on the earth is as though he has killed all mankind and whoever saves a life is as though he has saved all mankind." (Sura Al Maaidah 5:32)
Islam has safeguarded the rights of women. Among the rights for women they are entitled to education, choose a spouse, set the mahr, give consent for marriage, earn a living, own and dispose property and to receive a share of inheritance. A woman cannot be forced into arranged marriages or subjected to domestic violence. There is no commandment in Islam obliging a woman to consent to this injustice.
The key to change in attitude towards cultural practices such as honour killing, denying the female of their rights and other harmful traditions which have no basis in religion especially Islam lies in education: To learn the Divine message of Islam as per the Holy Quran and the teachings of Ahlul Bayt a.s.
Wa ma tawfiqi illa billah
Fazle Abbas Datoo
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Resident Alim
Wessex Shia Ithna Asheri Jamaat