If, today, a husband finds his wife committing
adultery with a man, it is considered acceptable in many Muslim countries for
the husband to kill both the partners in the act, and most certainly the wife.
But the Quran has a completely different story to tell. In li’an, the procedure
adopted when a husband accuses his wife of adultery, but cannot produce four
witnesses, he is supposed to go to the authorities and has to swear four times
that what he is saying is the truth. Surah Al-Nur says: “Those who accuse their
wives of adultery and cannot produce four witnesses, except for themselves, they
should swear an oath by God four times that they are telling the truth. And
swear a fifth oath invoking the curse of God if he is telling a lie. The
punishment can be removed from the wife if she swears an oath four times by God
that the husband is lying. And a fifth oath that the curse of God should be upon
her if he, (the husband), is telling the truth.” (24: 6-9).
If
she confesses or remains silent, she will be given the punishment fixed for
adultery. If she chooses to swear that she is innocent, her word will be upheld
against that of the husband, and they can undergo a divorce. -- Nilofar
Ahmed
By Nilofar Ahmed
THE feudal structure of our society follows its
own barbaric rules in order to perpetrate the inhuman and unjust system for the
benefit of the few at the top rung of the hierarchical ladder. No matter which
name they go by, the number of atrocities committed in the name of honour run
into hundreds every year.
The despicable custom has filtered down to all
the social classes, urban and rural. The heinous crime is committed in the name
of honour to cover up property disputes, to avenge an old and festering enmity;
or, if a woman asks for divorce from an abusing husband; or, to defend a
murderer who has killed a man and tries to cover it up by killing an innocent
woman, accusing the victims of being karo kari, and like cases. The term implies
adultery, an extra-marital affair or sex outside of marriage, or obscenity,
especially in the case of minors.
A double murder is also committed if a man and a
woman decide to marry of their own choice. In many cases the woman victim might
be the murderer’s sister, ex-wife or some other relative. Since the murderer
also pretends to be the aggrieved party, he can twist the case in his own favour
by pleading that his honour was soiled, and that he had no other recourse but to
kill the offender! He often manages to get off with a light sentence, if any at
all. Close relatives of the slain are also known to forgive the killer.
If, today, a husband finds his wife committing
adultery with a man, it is considered acceptable in many Muslim countries for
the husband to kill both the partners in the act, and most certainly the wife.
But the Quran has a completely different story to tell. In li’an, the procedure
adopted when a husband accuses his wife of adultery, but cannot produce four
witnesses, he is supposed to go to the authorities and has to swear four times
that what he is saying is the truth. Surah Al-Nur says: “Those who accuse their
wives of adultery and cannot produce four witnesses, except for themselves, they
should swear an oath by God four times that they are telling the truth. And
swear a fifth oath invoking the curse of God if he is telling a lie. The
punishment can be removed from the wife if she swears an oath four times by God
that the husband is lying. And a fifth oath that the curse of God should be upon
her if he, (the husband), is telling the truth.” (24: 6-9).
If she confesses or remains silent, she will be
given the punishment fixed for adultery. If she chooses to swear that she is
innocent, her word will be upheld against that of the husband, and they can
undergo a divorce.
Based on the sayings of the Prophet (PBUH), the
child born thereafter will be called the child of the mother, and will not in
any way be connected with the father. If after this anyone calls the woman an
adulterer, or the child an illegitimate issue, that person can be given the
punishment of 80 stripes due to a slanderer, who will never be treated as a
reliable witness again (see 24: 4). Unless a person can produce four witnesses,
he should not bring up such a charge in the first place. Traditionally, the
woman killed for karo kari is not given a proper burial, nor is she buried in
the community graveyard. No one is supposed to visit the grave even later. Here
it would benefit us to look at a hadith of the Prophet. Once a woman confessed
to having committed adultery. The Prophet sent her back four times trying to
avert the punishment, but she was persistent. At last she was given the
punishment. After that the Prophet asked that her funeral prayer be said and she
be buried in the same manner in which any other Muslim is buried.
The problem will persist until concrete steps are
taken to eliminate honour killing. It is imperative that we include, train and
re-orient the police and the religious leaders such as the pesh imams and the
qaris in the scheme for reform. The religious leaders must be convinced that
this practice goes against the Quran and should be asked to teach people in
their sermons and the children in madressahs what an unjust act and a heinous
sin and crime this brutal murder is. If we start now we can hope that at least
our next generation will become more humane in the
matter.
Source: Dawn,
Karachi
6:33 AM
Sultan Shahin
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