Salaam Dr. Hasanuddin!
I saw an article today, in the So. CA "InFocus" publication, Feb 2007 -- title
"Honor killings plague Pakistan"
(pg 15). It says that while honor killings are
"unIslamic" -- that "Islam strictly prohibits murder &
killing without legal justification" -- there have been "more than
4,000 people killed during the last 6 years in the name of honor killings"
(in Pakistan).
So, why is this such an
issue in many Islamic cultures? Where are these Muslims getting the idea
that Islam justifies, even demands, this? And, why does the
government not crack down on such?
Thank you,
Don Jones
Hi Don!
You are right! Islam does not permit unjustified killing. No
individual is allowed to take law in his hand and kill a life as a punishment.
Life can only be taken by a lawfully established state, only after a court of
justice, with due process of law, decrees as such.
In Pakistan,
those who generally resort to honor killing belong to either the ruling feudal
class of people or ignorant and uneducated people of tribal areas. How can one
expect the ruling feudal class to crackdown on itself; whereas, the tribal
people live beyond their authority?
The answers to your questions in the last two lines are a
bit complicated. One has to understand the Psychology of man and nations. Some
examples will explain:
- US
federal statistics show that on the average there are 43,000.00 deaths per
year because of drunk driving on the roads in the States. Why does not the
government crackdown on drinking wine or alcohol consumption?
- In India,
thousands and thousands of new-born baby girls or female fetuses are being
killed every year by the hospital staff or the parents. Why does not the
government there crackdown on hospitals or those who kill their daughters?
Dr. Syed Hasanuddin Ahmad