I don’t know why they call it honor killing. It's murder.
This is the Sharia on honor killing. This makes the news several times a year, but mostly only with Muslims. This week in the Canadian news, a husband, wife and son were tried for killing 2 daughters and what turns out to be, a second wife. They were Muslims from Afghanistan. At the same time, in the US news, the death penalty was given to the second murderer in what’s known as Connecticut’s worst murders. Two men kidnapped, held hostage and murdered a mother and her two daughters. They raped the 11 year old. Then tied them up, poured gasoline around the house and set it on fire. The girls burned to death. They killers were born and raised in the US, no one asked what religion they were as most Americans are Christians, and it wasn’t an honor killing. It was just a brutal killing. Seems that’s not as bad as killing for honor.
So who decided there was honor in killing a female? Where did that come from and why? I thought you should know the answers to those questions. It didn’t just start yesterday or 1400 years ago and it’s certainly not just a Muslim/Islamic problem.
Killing women isn’t new. It all goes back to; who’s yo daddy? Because your daddy owned you and when he was done, another man owned you. His wife better carry only his seed and his daughters have to be virgins to have value. The sanctity of lineage has always been more important than the sanctity of life.
And it’s not like this concept went away. Women are killed every day in every country by; husbands, boyfriends, wanna be lovers and rejected suitors and family members. They just don’t use the word honor. It seems that word is used to separate Muslims killing their females from all other countries, cultures and religions. Where is the honor in that?
Did you know that Brazil has one of the highest numbers in honor killings? Along with women, lots of gays and transgendered folk are killed there every day. Honor can mean different things to different cultures.
But if your religion came from the Mid Eastern area, then your religion allowed the killing of females simply because that’s where civilization started. We can go back in time and see just how long women have been valued for their reproductive parts as these are the laws of the ancient pagans and idolaters.
The Greeks and Romans, both famous for worshipping many gods and goddesses, may not have invented the theory behind honor killings, but they believed it was a good law. In Rome, a raped woman would be killed, that was the law. A father owned the family. He could kill his adulterous wife (even by rumor) any way he wanted to, and he could make it public and charge a fee to watch, after all, she’s his property. The Greeks had the same law. The father or husband had complete ownership of the re-productive parts of his wife, daughter, sister and other female relatives. And he could sell them.
Hammurabi put it in writing. Women and children were property that could be owned by free men. If your wife commits adultery, throw in the water.
But even they didn’t invent it. In China, an adulterous wife would be trampled by elephants, which are actually trained to kill for this crime. In ancient Egypt it was flogging and her breasts cut off. The ancient Persians would dump her in a well. Jews would stone her. Even Native American Indians had severe punishments for an adulterous woman. And it wasn’t just back in the day.
In Brazil, killing your wife for honor was not a crime until 1991. Almost 1,000 women were killed in one year.
Until 1980 a husband could legally kill his wife for adultery in Colombia. Laws allowing the honor killing of a wife can be found in of Argentina, Ecuador, Egypt, Guatemala, Iran, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Peru, Syria, Haiti, Venezuela and the Palestinian National Authority.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, rape is used as a weapon of war. An estimated 2 million victims plus more deaths than the conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Darfur (Sudan) combined. The Congo is a Christian country.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates there are 5,000 murders classified as honor killings each year worldwide, and they are not all perpetrated by Muslims. The World Health Organization says there are over half a million annual homicides in the world. Honor killings make up less than 1% of all murders. Dowry killings are more common.
Dowry killings outnumber honor killings, and they are on the rise. Women with insufficient dowries are murdered or driven to suicide in what are often disguised as kitchen accidents. They call them “bride burnings.” In 2008, there were over 8,000 dowry deaths reported in India alone. Due to the high number of honor killings in India, the Supreme Court issued notices to the Central Government and six states including Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan to stop honor killings, this was in 2010.
Murders for crossing caste boundaries are similar to honor killings and the victims are usually killed by their family members. The caste system is outlawed, but it remains in parts of India and Nepal, they are not Muslims.
Even today, the laws of Italy allow the possibility of a reduced sentence if it’s classified as for honor. Like the mafia.
In Pakistan; a man can say that the killing was for his honor and he goes free. But you probably knew about that law.
The Chechen President said that honor killings were perpetrated on those who deserved to die. He said that those who are killed have "loose morals" and are rightfully shot by relatives in honor killings.
Over the last twenty years in Mexico, the crime of killing women doubled. Hundreds of women have been kidnapped, brutally raped and tortured. Just because you don't hear about it, doesn't mean it doesn't happen.
In Guatemala, there were nearly 700 murders of women in 2010, and 1,110 in Honduras. Only 211 made it to court, and less than 5% resulted in a conviction.
In the US, an estimated 1,200 women are killed by their spouse or partner each year. “In 1994, the National Organization for Women, the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund (now called Legal Momentum), the Feminist Majority and other organizations finally secured passage of the Violence Against Women Act, which provided a record-breaking $1.6 billion to address issues of violence against women. However it took nearly an additional year to force the Newt Gingrich-led Congress to release the funding.”
According to the National Crime Victimization Survey, which includes crimes that were not reported to the police, 232,960 women in the U.S. were raped or sexually assaulted in 2006. That's more than 600 women every day”
In 2005, 1,181 women were murdered by an intimate partner. That's an average of three women every day.’
The "temporary insanity" defense became US law in 1859 when a congressman used this as a defense for killing his wife’s boyfriend. It was a very popular defense in the 1940s and 50s.
And that law had its foundations in French law, the Napoleonic code. Part of that code included a law for Crimes of passion with a reduced sentence. The law gave the husband complete power over his wife and kids. Most of Europe already had this law as the man has always been seen as the head of his household. This can be found in the Gospel and in the Torah with Eve. It is also in the Quran, men are in charge of women because they have an advantage…’ But none of these books allow for honor killing. Maybe it’s implied.
Lev 21:9 And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire.
In the Hadith, there is one story that talks about honor killing, it’s a story about Aiesha being left behind on a caravan trip. She was found by a man and returned to her tribe. Many of the tribe wanted to kill her for ‘dishonoring’ Muhammad; they said she had committed adultery. But he said no. This Hadith proves that honor killing came long before Islam.
This Hadith also said that Muhammad prayed hard about this incident and from that prayer the verse came to him that says; bring forth 4 witnesses to prove adultery. This gave women the first form of protection from rumors and false accusations. And think about it, will there be 4 witnesses to prove adultery? Only if it’s done in the street in broad daylight.
Do you promise to love honour and obey your husband? If not, you might end up dead. Religious rule not required- because the entire concept of honor killings comes from the ancient pagans and idol worshippers, who were then killed by Christians, Jews and Muslims for worshipping idols and being pagans. Odd, isn’t it? Steal their laws then kill them. How honorable.
The word honor contains the word no. The word ‘no’ used by a woman is bothersome. She shouldn’t have the right to say no as the word no implies choice and choice means she has some control. And let’s face it; some men can’t handle the word no or letting a woman have control. Makes them feel impotent and victimized and they rage, and then death happens. It’s not really an honor to posses those qualities anymore, so we raise better men. This has had remarkably good results all over the planet. But combining ancient pagan laws with progress is still a slow fight. Giving up control of women has never really been done before, some think the world might end if that should happen, that God will zap all of mankind. Women are scary. It’s why some men say the hellfire, the baddest place ever, is filled with women. Obviously hell doesn’t scare woman and that’s scary.
Women are still fighting for their right to own their bodies, and religious men are still fighting to control her body and her decisions. Even in countries that have laws giving women the right to own her body, these laws are being challenged. For the first time in history, the question is asked; Are women really smart enough to make all of their own decisions? And does she have the right to own her body.
Honor killings, domestic violence, random violence, violence done in the name of a God or just because,-- it’s all bad. You can’t put one above the other. In the tribes of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and other 3rd world countries, you can see your own past. In some ways, we really haven’t come that far. It seems that it’s still easier for some men to control women than it is for the men to control themselves.
If you have a problem with ‘Muslim honor killings’ but do not have a problem with the killing of non Muslim women, then, you really don’t have any honor.