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October 11, 2006
Domestic Dispute, Religous 'Feud', Or Islamic Violence?
IRIS Blog has an infuriating attempt by the media to cover up what should be called Islamic violence in what was nothing less than an attempted "Honor Killing":
For the first time in recent memory, a female Muslim managed to defend herself from a murderous family member. One newspaper account, however, terms the incident a "religious feud" in an article with the obfuscated headline "Religion Blamed for Stabbing." (Here are two of many articles which only used neutral terms such as "domestic dispute" and "domestic situation." Many of the news reports did not hint Muslims were involved at all.) Consider the nature of this "feud":Continue reading, "Muslim Father's Murderous Rampage Called a 'Religious Feud'."# A teenager told her parents of her intention to convert.
# The father, a medical doctor, then attempted to stab her with a kitchen knife.
# The mother tried to step in to protect her daughter, so the father murdered her instead.
# The girl was heard screaming "Help me, help me, they're trying to kill me."
# The girl had wounds down her arm, across her back, and her clothes had been ripped off when she fled the apartment.
# After the incident neighbors tried to comfort the sobbing girl who confirmed contemporaneously that her father flew into a rage when said she intended to convert.
# The father was hospitalized with a stab wound in the chest.
# A Muslim source justified the murder, saying that converting is "totally unacceptable," that "many would react as he has done" and that "It is the Islamic way that if a son or daughter does or plans to do something that is unacceptable or wrong for a Muslim then it is the mother who is automatically at fault and will bear the brunt of the blame"
"Honor killings" are commonpace in the Muslim World, but not in mainstream news sources. According to normative Islam, converts from Islam are subject to death. Many such converts report extensive death threats and the need to go into hiding because of fatal attacks.
In my search for a Muslim perspective on the issue of honor killings, I found this "Position Paper on "Honor Killings"" by The Muslim Women's League:
... The problem of "honor killings" is not a problem of morality or of ensuring that women maintain their own personal virtue; rather, it is a problem of domination, power and hatred of women who, in these instances, are viewed as nothing more than servants to the family, both physically and symbolically.Needless to say, if and when Islam gets around to reforming itself, honor killings must be included in several items at the head of its list of items needing serious and immediate attention.... Confronting the problem of "honor killings" and other crimes that disproportionately affect women requires a change in attitude that pervades all levels of society where such attacks occur. Muslim leaders can provide an important example to their followers by taking an unequivocal stand against behavior that is in direct violation of Islam. In addition, legal reform must occur with the intention to protect the victims and punish the perpetrators, all totally possible within a legitimate Islamic legal framework. Concomitant attention must be paid to meeting basic human needs and solving problems stemming from poverty and illiteracy that are often at the root of disturbing social trends that seek out the most disenfranchised to serve as scapegoats.
As for the media's coloring over of the honor killing and its relationship with Islam, it's nothing less than what we've all learned to expect from the multicultural, moral relativistic, liberal progressive, mainstream media - is it not?
Related: Islam's Honor Killing Questioned: Pakistan
Posted by Richard at October 11, 2006 7:51 AM
