In this article we cover three issues: Honor-Killing, Sexuality in Islamic law, and genital cutting.
Honor-Killing: Islam Like any other religion, condemns the vigilante-style honor killings that still occur more than other religions in the Middle Eastern countries. [including Iran and Afghanistan] The So-called honor killing (or honor-murders, nearly exclusively of women, of persons who are perceived as having brought dishonor to their families) are often identified with Islam. The hadith refer to a case where Mohammed sanctions the stoning of an adulterous women. Honor killings are sanctioned in Iran's and Afghanistan's penal codes in which honor killing is legal or lightly punished. Honor killings are more common in Muslim-majority countries, especially in traditional societies with low literacy rate. though they occur in other countries as well. Other than Muslim countries is found to do the same as Muslims. I believe that the issue of honor killings is cultural practice rather than religious [Islamic] which is neither exclusive to, nor universal within, the Islamic world. Cases were reported in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Iran and Turkey, and Afghanistan. The father of the elder brother usually take care of the killing of the girl, and rarely, killing the male offender. In Jordan, for example, as I experienced, courts, sometimes give less sentence to honor-killing, but human rights and feminist activists call for equality between the sexes.
Sexuality under Islamic Law: Having sex between male and female in Islamic way, is legal, But Islam enjoins sexual pleasure with marriage contract to be legal. A high value is placed on virginity and chastity for both men and women. But not celibacy (as in the Christian faith). To protect women from accusations of unchaste behavior, the scripture lays down severe punishments towards those who make false allegations about a woman's chastity. Four male eye witnesses have to witness a sexual operation between two or more persons in one site. Qur'an reads about the guilt: Let no man guilty of Adultery or fornication marry any but a woman, similarly guilty, or an unbeliever: Nor let any but such a man, or an unbeliever, marry such a woman, to the believers such a thing is forbidden."(al-Nur-24:3) And about witnesses Qur'an reads: "And those who launch a charge against chaste women, and produce not four witnesses{to support their allegation] Flog them with eighty stripes; and reject their evidence, ever after, for such men are wicked transgressors." (al-Nur-24:4). Islamic law of Jurisprudence does not discriminate between genders in punishments for crimes. In case of sexual crimes such as rape called zina (extramarital sex, or adultery), for both men and women four eye witnesses are required to testify that they have seen the accused individuals having intercourse, meaning actually four of them should have seen the act as 'insertion of thread through the needle's hole'. In the eyes of the Islamic law the couple cannot be tried for zina if four witnesses are not available. Thus a strict Islamic punishment most unlikely to be executed, as there is hardly any chance of gathering such accurate witnesses. It shows how much Islam discourages advertisement of such a shameful crime, thus discouraging its further spread which may result in great disorders. The punishment for zina varies depending on the marital status of the guilty individuals. If they are single then both get a hundred lashes. If they are married the punishment is death, by stoning, or rajam. The difficulty of prosecuting rapists and the possibility of prosecution for women who allege rape has been of special interest to activists for Muslim women's rights In the past decades there have been several high profile cases of pregnant women prosecuted for zina who claim to have been raped.
Male Circumcise and Female Genital Cutting: In some cultures Female genital cutting [Tuhoor in Arabic] has been erroneously associated with Islam, but in fact it is practiced almost exclusively in Africa and in certain Arab countries has acquired a religious dimension. But culturally practiced The factuality of this is disputed though, A study made by the UNISEF of fourteen African countries found no correlation between religion and prevalence of Female genital cutting. In the case of males, unlike in Christianity, in Islam and Judaism males have to be circumcised. Usually performed in the first week after birth. (750 words)
Dr. Hasan Yahya is a professor of Sociology, Authority on Arab and Muslim Cultures,and columnist at wfol.tv Malaysia, and TINA International News Agency, Chicago, USA. www.hasanyahya.com
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