Ardeshir is correct there is nothing in the Quran, example of the Prophet Muhammad, and in any of the Hadiths or teachings in Islam that endorses honour killings. Yet it is prevalent in many so-called Muslim cultures and even amongst some Muslims in European and western culture. So how is the innocent mind supposed to understand this seeming contradiction?

Sometimes when we look at other cultures and religions we blindly associate practices to foreign religions forgetting that the same thing can be done out of ignorance by other cultures and religions about western culture and religions as well. Take the Mafia and contract killings for example. The Italian origin of the Mafia is cradled in the same country where the highest authority in Catholicism reside. It comes from the seat of Catholicism. Contract killings by the Mafia are a mainstay of Christian societies and can be found in just about any Christian country in the West. We could ignorantly associate the Mafia and contract killings using examples of how Mafia men were seen going to Mass and even make bogus claims about verses in the Bible supporting this Christian cultural manifestation known as the Mafia. We could even write ignorant articles about it stating “Yes, It is Christian. Don’t Apologize For It!” and show how violent and cruel contract killings are and associate that and the Mafia with Christianity and deride Christianity for being a backwards, evil religion with ugly inhuman and uncivilized practices that cannot be excused and must be stamped out.

It is easy for the ignorant, insincere and deliberately demonizing mind to make those unfair assessment about other people’s religion. But a child with just a little inkling of school boy sense and desire to know the truth could easily take an approach that would dispel all the babble by simply going to the religion and see what it really says. A sincere mind studying the beautiful teachings of Christ would know right away that contract killings and the Mafia had nothing to do with the beautiful revelations from G-d to Christ. So too would a sincere mind studying the beautiful teachings in the Quran and Islam would know that those teachings have nothing to do with honour killings, terrorism and a whole host of other lies and deliberate demonization that wicked people associate with Islam.

The proper words for verse 4:34 that you quoted are:

“As to those women on whose part ye fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them (first), (Next), refuse to share their beds, (And last) beat them (lightly); but if they return to obedience, seek not against them Means (of annoyance): For Allah is Most High, great (above you all).”

As Ardeshir points out there is nothing in this verse that states a man should kill his wife for honour. If you know Arabic the word used for beat is not the same Arabic word that is used for beat as when you beat up someone physically. The word used is often translated as a tongue lashing because the reference is to not do any physical harm but only as a means of having the husband after doing other things show as a last resort his displeasure with his wife. It represents a most civilized way of behavior and not the barbarity seen especially in the West for men experiencing infidelity from their wives. I am really curious to know if the number of killings, beatings, banishment, etc. in the West done by men for the behavior of loose wives, girlfriends, etc. is more or less than we have in Islamic cultures. But somehow our double standards do not label the actions of men in the West in this regard as honour killings.

At the same time there is a rich wealth of teachings in Islam about the relationship between men and women. The Prophet Muhammad said, “The best among you is he who is best in his treatment of his wife!” Numerous verses in the Quran extol the beautiful relationship between men and women. One of them is as follows:

“30:21 And among His Signs is this, that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that ye may dwell in tranquillity with them, and He has put love and mercy between your (hearts): verily in that are Signs for those who reflect.”

I could go on and on with more and you would never find anywhere where the Quran or anything in the teachings of Islam that endorses honour killings. But the Quran is very precise and very clear regarding what the conditions are for when a life should be taken. Needless, to say honour killings are not among the reasons. The Quran treats human life as sacred. It is given by G-d and it is only G-d who has the authority to take life or provide the means by which that life can be taken. The specific verse in the Quran dealing with the taking of life is as follows:

“5:32 …if any one slew a person - unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land - it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people…”

The Quran equates the seriousness of taking the innocent life of one person to killing a whole people. It is a very serious matter when someone is killed especially by honour killings.

Honour killings, death for adultery, death for apostates and other things practiced in so-called Islamic countries are corruption that crept into Islam. You will find nothing in the Quran endorsing any of those practices but yet they are practiced by ignorant, confused Muslims in their societies. Colonialism had a big hand to play with this. As admitted to by several documentaries, books and other literature, under colonialism the British and other western powers encouraged extremism in Islam. They killed out and stifled the voices of true Islam and allowed cultural and barbaric practices to thrive and be supported. This was tactic by them to destroy Muslim societies and today we see the ugly remnants of that prevalent in many Muslim countries. You should check out this link http://www.hizmetbooks.org/British_Spy_Hempher/index.html which is titled “Confessions of a British Spy” to learn something about how thoroughly work was done in the Islamic world to encourage extremism, bad cultural habits and un-Islamic behavior in Islamic countries to be portrayed as Islam in order to weaken them and make them better subjects of the colonialists.

As for those so-called Muslims who practice honour killings, they should be giving the full punishment of the law. They ignored the clear teachings in their religion to follow a barbaric practice. By ignoring Islam and taking innocent lives to satisfy their ego and false sense of honour they deserve to die.