Honor Killing: Culture Disguised as Religion

On October 4, 2016, I was left in a state of shock and bewilderment as news emerged of a Pakistani man killing his sister in the name of honor. The woman had been killed because she had married a formerly Christian man. Rajhu seemingly warned 18 year-old Tasleem not to marry the man, as he did not think it possible to be able to face his friends owing to shame. He warned her that people will not respect their family anymore.

The dread of being disrespected and appearing inferior in the eyes of others, made him take his sister's life. His friends had seen the girl with the man she was secretly married to, the man that had accepted Islam for her, and taunted Rajhu for it and urged him to kill her. After the pressure got too much, Rajhu put a gun to his sister's head and took her life.

This is not the first time women have been killed in the name of honor. According to Wikipedia, "honor killing is the killing of a relative, especially a girl or a woman, who is perceived to have brought disgrace to the family.". It can simply be defined as the heinous act of killing one's own family member for the name of honor. In Pakistan, there are, on average, 800 honor killing cases every year, excluding those unreported. In August, Samia Shahid's murder case again reminded us of the evil act of honor killing. Samia was a Bradford-Pakistani Muslim woman killed by her ex husband and father for marrying the man she loved.

Only a few months ago, a Pakistani social media star, Qandeel Baloch, was killed by her brother, Waseem, in the name of honor. What made her brother take her life were the controversial photos of her that she posted on various social networking sites, such as Facebook and Instagram. According to the brother, Baloch was bringing disrepute to the family's honor.

It is incidents like these that make us wonder if we, as a nation, have evolved or gone back to the times of ignorance. In around 30 BC, during the rule of Augustus Caesar, he made it permissible for men to kill their wives if their wives were found to be unfaithful. Similarly, in 1810, similar rules were made in the Napoleonic code. However, if a man was found guilty of the same offence, his wife was not permitted to kill him.

Around 700 AD, when Islam spread, people finally realized how atrocious this law was. Islam did not allow for someone to make accusations about a woman without presenting four witnesses. It did not allow the killing of people. Islam was and is, totally against honor killing.

Islam does not support killing your sister, mother, daughter or any female relative because she spoke with a man not related to her. Islam does not allow killing a woman because she refused to marry someone the family chose for her. Islam does not allow killing your daughters and sisters because they married someone according to their personal choice. It does not grant the killing of a victim of rape. Islam does not allow killing a woman because of rumors regarding a premarital affair. It does not permit killing a woman who wants to leave her abusive husband.

In the non-Muslim world, however, it was only in 1975 when this permission of killing one's wife was not granted anymore. By then, men had finally understood how absurd this whole ordeal was. In the Western countries, the concept of honor killing has completely disappeared. One can only hope for it's elimination from the entire world as soon as possible. Thankfully, Pakistan is not turning a deaf ear to these issues.

In June 2016, around 40 Islamic Ulemah (religious scholars), issued a ruling declaring the murder of women in the name of honor as 'un-Islamic'. They argued that according to Islam, a mature woman, a woman who can distinguish between right and wrong, is allowed to marry of her own free will. They stated that in Islam, it is not permissible to hurt a soul, therefore killing for the sake of honor is out of question.

In conclusion, Islam does not allow honor killing. In Islam there is no concept of killing women in the name of honor. It is un-Islamic and an merely an act of terrorism and viciousness.