In the Qur’an, a mysterious figure, known as Khidr in Islamic tradition, kills a boy in an apparently random and gratuitous attack. He then explains: “And as for the boy, his parents were believers, and we feared that he would overburden them by transgression and disbelief. So we intended that their Lord should substitute for them one better than him in purity and nearer to mercy.” (18:80-81)
And according to Islamic law, “retaliation is obligatory against anyone who kills a human being purely intentionally and without right.” However, “not subject to retaliation” is “a father or mother (or their fathers or mothers) for killing their offspring, or offspring’s offspring.” (Reliance of the Traveller o1.1-2).
Muslims commit 91 percent of honor killings worldwide. The Palestinian Authority gives pardons or suspended sentences for honor murders. Iraqi women have asked for tougher sentences for Islamic honor murderers, who get off lightly now. Syria in 2009 scrapped a law limiting the length of sentences for honor killings, but “the new law says a man can still benefit from extenuating circumstances in crimes of passion or honour ‘provided he serves a prison term of no less than two years in the case of killing.’” And in 2003 the Jordanian Parliament voted down on Islamic grounds a provision designed to stiffen penalties for honor killings. Al-Jazeera reported that “Islamists and conservatives said the laws violated religious traditions and would destroy families and values.”
“Sartaj and Shahrukh murder their sister in a suspected case of honour killing in Greater Noida: Report,” OpIndia, March 20, 2023:
In a disturbing incident, two brothers in Greater Noida murdered their sister because they doubted her character. Prima facie the case appears to be that of a suspected honour killing, reports reveal.
DCP Central Ram Badan Singh said that on March 14, a decomposed dead body of a woman was recovered from the Hindon river in the Ecotech-3 police station area. During the investigation, the deceased was identified as Najma, daughter of Akhtar, a resident of Kakrala village.
Najma was married, but she was having a dispute with her husband. Najma was living in Surajpur in a separate room without her husband. His brothers Shahrukh and Sartaj doubted his character.
On getting information about this, when station in-charge Sunil Dutt interrogated both the brothers on the basis of suspicion, they confessed to killing their sister. He said that on the night of March 8, he coaxed his sister Najma to a deserted place in the Bisrakh area and strangulated her to death….
Both the brothers told during interrogation that their sister had left her husband and was living separately. Because of this, various discussions were happening in society about his [sic; “her” is likely meant] character. Tired of these discussions, he killed Najma.
Honour killings show the ugly side of our society, OpIndia had earlier reported an incident in which a 19-year-old girl was smothered with a pillow by her brothers Tohid and Danish for reportedly having a love affair with a youth whom the latter did not approve of. The brothers learned that the victim was planning to elope with her boyfriend and marry him in court. They were infuriated over this and killed her.
