"Today You Die" - Maintaining Family Honor

A combination of two old master paintings, the main one being "Christ and the Adulteress" by Lucas Cranach the Elder 1532, Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, and the other with the identical title by Andrea Vicentino ca.1572, Venice, Private Collection

 

"Hundreds, if not thousands, of women are murdered by their families each year in the name of family "honor." It's difficult to get precise numbers on the phenomenon of honor killing; the murders frequently go unreported, the perpetrators unpunished, and the concept of family honor justifies the act in the eyes of some societies.

Reports submitted to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights show that honor killings have occurred in Bangladesh, Great Britain, Brazil, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Pakistan, Morocco, Sweden, Turkey, and Uganda. In countries not submitting reports to the UN, the practice was condoned under the rule of the fundamentalist Taliban government in Afghanistan, and has been reported in Iraq and Iran."

Whilst I have of course known about honor killings, it still shocks me when I am confronted by such unbelievable barbarity, and trying to place myself somewhere in the midst of this madness belonging to the Middle ages, I find it difficult not to get outraged by this article written by a female Muslim reporter, Al Skudsi bin Hookah, a roving reporter and foreign correspondent for The Gaza Gajeera.

How can one justify this warped sense of honor, when defending that very honor demands in it's ritual to defy all and any moral principles. I guess the answer is that the morals of Islam were written by a self serving ruthless meglomaniac called Muhammad, who made sure that his followers kept their women exactly where they wanted them to be (don't miss watching the interview) This behavior of treating women as their property is deeply rooted in the Islamic culture, and  has no place in this century or the next, nor does it have anything to do with the word of God, but has the word of "Allah the man" written all over it:

There is nothing in the Quran (Islamic Sacred book), that permits or sanctions honor killings. However, the view of women as property with no rights of their own is deeply rooted in Islamic culture, Tahira Shahid Khan, a professor specializing in women's issues at the Aga Khan University in Pakistan, wrote in Chained to Custom, a review of honor killings published in 1999:

“Women are considered the property of the males in their family irrespective of their class, ethnic, or religious group. The owner of the property has the right to decide its fate. The concept of ownership has turned women into a commodity which can be exchanged, bought and sold."

And like I have always said, the entire world of Islam spews out tailored propaganda to the West, very different to what is preached daily in their own language, predicated and predominated on the concept of women being a vessel of the family reputation, where failing to serve a meal on time can be perceived as impugning the family honor. Not isolated by any stretch, this woman's views, and more importantly the stories told, are absolutely horrendous. To think that this is not a common view amongst the followers of the traditions of Islam, is to ignore the 1.4 bil world-wide who share this faith, and condone these women being buried in unmarked graves and all records of their existence wiped out.

I am very unhappy. Our way of life is under attack. And we are not fighting back. Deep down, we know that when a woman has disgraced her family, nothing will restore honor except by killing her. This is understood in Jordan, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, Egypt, the Gaza strip and the West Bank. So why are we Arabs telling the Western press that honor killing is cultural, that it is not really part of Islam? Our way of life is based on maintaining our honor. And make no mistake about it: a woman does tarnish her family's honor by engaging in pre-marital sex, or by getting herself raped, when she seeks divorce and when she marries against her family's wishes.[...]

It's not just religious leaders who know it's the right thing to do. Many of the most progressive political leaders are the ones who defend the practice. To maintain the integrity of our society and our traditions, we must maintain our honor by any and every means. And keeping our women pure is a big part of our honor. So there's no point saying honor killing isn't really part of our religion. Our religion isn't just what's in the Koran. Honor killings fit into the cultural context of today's Islamic teachings. Honor and Islam are inextricably bound; they are what give our life meaning. A strong religion demands we choose to maintain our honor.

I am also annoyed that news reports focus on gory details instead of showing compassionate understanding of what motivated the men who act vigorously to maintain honor. They are the real victims. Their honor was violated, so killing the offending woman is self-defense. Instead, like in this story, reporters graphically describe the damage done by the ax -- of course an ax is going to do damage. Listen to this:

    " Two months ago, when she tried to run away yet again, Kina grabbed a kitchen knife and an ax and stabbed and beat the girl [his daughter] until she lay dead in the blood-smeared bathroom of the family's Istanbul apartment. He then commanded one of his daughters-in-law to clean up the mess. When his two sons came home from work 14 hours later, he ordered them to dispose of the 5-foot-3 corpse, which had been wrapped in a carpet and a blanket. The girl's head had been so mutilated, police said, it was held together by a knotted cloth."

And this:

    "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."

This one is better. At least the reporter focused on why the brother had to kill his sister:

    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."

And here, at least, we can see it isn't just some ignorant slobs who live in the boonies.

    " I would do what I have to do,' said Bassam al-Hadid, a Jordanian with an American doctorate who spent 12 years as a hospital administrator in the United States, when asked whether he would kill a daughter who had sex outside marriage."

I have to say that I'm heartened to see that in families that respect themselves, women are as dedicated as men:

    "Samia Sarwar, 29, mother of two boys aged 4 and 8, was shot dead today in lawyer Hina Jillani's office by a bearded man accompanying her mother and uncle. `He's my helper, I can't walk,' said the mother, when Hina told the two men to get out. As the mother went to sit down in front of Hina's desk, and Saima stood up from her chair, the bearded man whipped out a pistol from his waistcoat and shot Saima in the head, killing her instantly."

A European I know said he doesn't understand why a girl who is raped has to die to protect her family's honor. "After all," he said, "it isn't her fault". Is it so hard to understand that when an unmarried woman is no longer sexually pure, the family is humiliated? Her lack of chastity brings shame to everyone in her family. How else can her family's honor be cleansed except by her blood? What's to understand?

Actually, it's important that you understand that her impure state can destabilize morality in our whole society. If you don't understand that, you won't understand that our honor demands that we must tolerate no impertinance.

Everyone must know their place. Men must be in control of their families. Women and children must obey. Women must devote themselves to the care of their husband and children. Or things will spiral out of control.

We could end up with a big bunch of Kola Boofs. And you know what a headache she is. She was born respectable but she was brought up in America. Maybe that has something to do with it. She poses barebreasted on the cover of that disgusting book she wrote and she no longer considers herself a Muslim.

It's too bad her publisher had to be threatened before he stopped publishing her latest book. But he should have known better than to try to publish a book that is so disrespectful to the Arab Islamic communities in Europe and in Africa.

Boof has made terrible accusations. Listen to this one:

    "As a black African woman, I cannot and will not be silent as black men in Arab nations are chained up like dogs to the back doors of Muslim households and fed, literally, from doggie bowls. I will not be silent as African women are raped, mutilated and mentally demeaned by sadistic human beings calling themselves children of Allah. I will not be silent as the number of little black boys who are sodomized by their Arab masters continues to soar, while even worse atrocities attend the lives of little black girls."

So maybe her disobedience started small. But, now, like the Sharia court in London's Islamic community said: she is guilty of "deliberately and maliciously bearing false witness against religious sentiment and of willing treason against her Arab Muslim father's people and against her nation, the Sudan."

And that's why Sudan has a fatwa out on her.

The Shari'a court in London??? Eh? Does the Prime Minister know about this court, or is this court a law unto itself for the Islamic community to spread their love all over Great Britain. Londonistan has a quaint ring to it doesn't it?

Threaten the West, and we will succumb. Well, she has not been very wrong thus far. Pathetic.

Officials often claim that nothing can be done to halt the practice because the concept of women's rights is not culturally relevant to deeply patriarchal societies. I am so glad we have brave women like Dr. Wafa Sultan in our midst, who fight against these heinous thugs, devoid of any humanity, and deserving of a worse punishment than the one they advocate (watch this brilliant video of her interview). I love this woman:

"The clash we are witnessing around the world is not a clash of religions, or a clash of civilizations. It is a clash between two opposites, between two eras. It is a clash between a mentality that belongs to the Middle Ages and another mentality that belongs to the 21st century. It is a clash between civilization and backwardness, between the civilized and the primitive, between barbarity and rationality. It is a clash between freedom and oppression, between democracy and dictatorship. It is a clash between human rights, on the one hand, and the violation of these rights, on other hand. It is a clash between those who treat women like beasts, and those who treat them like human beings. What we see today is not a clash of civilizations. Civilizations do not clash, but compete.

If you have time, there is an in depth analysis written on the subject of 'honor killings' by Amnesty International USA which is a must read.

Speaking of which,  don't miss another excellent must read post on Islamofascists by The Anchoress

Comments

[Huan]

Women go 'missing' by the millions

[Raimondo]

Michael...I agree!

[Michael (van der) Galien]

Raimondo,

I agree.

The important thing to me, is that we should recognize the fact that quite some people who come from countries like Somalia, take their 'culture' their 'habits' with them, when they come to Europe / USA.
When they are used to oppressing their women in their home countries, they will do the same thing here, why would they suddenly change all of that?
That is why it is so important that people like Ayaan Hirshi Ali (insiders) stand up and say what's really going on in so many (Muslim) families. Insiders know what's going on far better than 'outsiders' like me.
Once we are aware of the treatment of women in (Muslim or immigrants from certain countries...) families we can do something about it.

[Raimondo]

Alexandra,

An interesting Boston based artist who's subject matter is centered around the Islamic woman, is Ambreen Butt. She was trained in the miniaturist tradition in Pakistan, her work is quite evocative and poetic. She exhibits at Bernard Toale in Boston.

Another woman who crosses cultures in the same vein is Saskia Sikhander. Also trained in the miniaturist tradition.

Both artists employ a visual language born in another culture and they re-tool their native visual vocabulary often to express the woman's position in the world. In my view Ambreen is the more terse, poetic of the two. It's deep work that is born out of her own struggle to reconcile the two cultures Islam and the West and her own more private individual reality.

I don't know Ambreen's political views. But her work is interesting and worth looking at.

[Raimondo]

Michael,

I grew up in Somalia, and Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a Somali. From first hand knowledge of how oppressive society can be there. I can tell you that she is a person of extraordinary courage and extraordinary intelligence. I am very pleased that more people know her and are reading her book. I'm sure off course that in Holland everybody knows her, because of her prominent position and because of the Van Gogh tragedy.

I'm also glad that I'm not the only one reading people like her and Orianna Fallacci, because amongst a lot of ordinary people here I come across as someone who is an alarmist, or negative and not all inclusive. Like I'm on some kind of a hate crusade. It saddens me. Nothing could be further from the truth. I'm just reacting to a situation I watched devolve in Somalia first, and now I can't help but observe the first creepy signs in Europe and in the US. I sincerely hope our children will be able to live the free lives we have had the priviledge of living. In my case I also hope my children never have to see what my parents and siblings saw happen in Somalia.

Keep up the good work.

[Susan]

I come here often and never leave disappointed. Thank you for your excellent posts. I have put the address to another blog below that has yet another article about Islam's treatment of women; it may be of some interest to you and your readers (I sent it to "Sigmund, Carl and Alfred" also but some time ago). The author provides some further links.

http://www.rosenblog.com/2004/06/11/irans_pimpmullahs.html

Thank you again and kind regards,
Susan

[Michael (van der) Galien]

For every American who is interested, I found a book of Ayaan on Amazon: click here.

[Michael (van der) Galien]

Yes Ayaan Hirshi Ali's book is a must read indeed Raimundo. I, of course, read it in Dutch. It is called "De Zoontjesfabriek" (The sonsfactory) - about the role of women in Islamic cultures - they're just useful to 'breed' so to speak.

[Raimondo]

Oh Man! Alexandra this is in my view possibly the post that most goes to the crux of the matter of what Islam has in store for the world.

We have to keep at it! Keep the truth out in the open!

Maybe someday even Liberals will come around and recognize what is going on... We have to realize that this issue is one involving an ever increasing number of women, both in Islamic countries and in Western countries with an Islamic population.

Two books to read: Ayaan Hirsi Ali's Book and Daniela Santanche' s book. I have them in Italian I don't know if they are available in English yet.

Great Job! Alexandra! Keep at it! Pehaps in the future we will hear our outrage being echoed from within the walls of "the Religion of Peace"!

[gringoman]

Which is stronger and more determined: the Islamic intention to continue "honor killing," or the West's feelings against "honor killing"?

(New at gringoman: "El Commandante's Underwear" with drawing.)

[http://onecosmos.blogspot.com/]

Hey, why are shame cultures so shameless, anyway?

[North by Northwest]

One of the criticisms most often leveled against the West is its morbid love for material wealth. Reading the Amnesty International essay, it emerges soon enough, that this entire barbarity of so called 'Honor Killing' is All based on material greed. As AI points out:

A major consideration is the young woman's future inheritance rights over family property or assets. "In Pakistan, feudal and tribal custom dictate that property be kept in the family. It is not uncommon for girls to be married to a paternal uncle or aunt's sons ... so that control over the estate (jagir) is not weakened which would happen if a daughter married an outsider. Feudals do not want their jagirs dismembered on any account. To keep daughters in the paternal family, they are sometimes married to paternal cousins 10-20 years younger than them (in some syed [descendant of the prophet] families of Punjab and Sindh, parents wait until a son is born to a paternal uncle). A girl 15-20 years old then raises her would-be husband. She has no choice. What if there is no paternal uncle available? Maternal cousins become acceptable in that situation. What if there is no maternal cousin? Then the woman has to undergo the ceremony of haq-baksh-wai (marriage with the Quran).(21) This is more common in Sindh. In Punjab daughters are kept unmarried till the age of menopause when they take up the Quran and Tasbih [prayer beads] voluntarily."(22) In June 1999, a brief report in the newspaper Dawn indicated that concern for property sometimes overrides concern for women's rights. Fatima Bibi of Jalalpur Pirwala, Multan district, had married Muhammad Umar against the wishes of her father. Intent to "save" his property by preventing his daughter's marriage, he invited the couple to his home, beat and locked up the husband, then forcibly married Fatima Bibi to the Quran. On 29 June 1999, Fatima Bibi committed suicide by hanging herself from a ceiling fan.(23)

AI calls it "The commodification of women". That's exactly what it is and it is yet another example of the many shameless and glaring hypocrisies expressed daily by Islamic states, clerics and apologists. It all stinks to high heaven.

[Michael (van der) Galien]

What I do not fully understand is why they do not include The Netherlands in that list. We all know honory killings have occured here as well.
At a certain moment people who committed honory killings received less severe punishment than those who 'just' murder. This went on for quite a while. Parliament / people became aware of that and they made clear that is simply unacceptable. A murder is a murder.
So nowadays they are, mostly, punished like they should be.

It is, however, quite a difficult social question. We found that fathers do not murder their daughters themselves, instead they force their sons to kill their sisters: Those sons are of course minors, thus they receive a less severe punishment.

[Alexandra]

From the Amnesty International USA link I provide in the main text:

Supreme Court lawyer Hina Jilani summarized the legal hurdles to prosecution in honour killings for an Amnesty International delegation: "The law really facilitates such killings. Killings are private offences, against the individual, not the state, so who will bring and pursue the charges of murder? If the father or brother kills a woman, the family of the girl will not pursue the case, as in their eyes no wrong has been done. If the husband kills in the family home, his family are the witnesses but they will not testify against him. There is no chance of bringing the killer to book... The prosecution case collapses on almost all the scenarios of an honour killing.

The large number of men murdering their wives are assured from the outset that such murder will not be punished in the same manner as the murder of other people but merely with a sentence of a few years' imprisonment. An article on violence against women in the HRCP Newsletter in January 1999 bluntly states: "After the promulgation of the Qisas and Diyat Ordinance, the number of extended family members ... accused of killing women has registered a phenomenal rise. Perhaps the possibility to circumvent the defective law accounts for this change in the pattern of maintaining family honour.

[Huan]

It all makes sense if you believe a woman is property. And property is more valuable when unblemished. It doesn't matter whose fault cause the blemish, but once blemished the property devaluates precipitously. What else can you do?

Despicable.

There is no room for cultural relativism.