Munawar:
Muslims having been speaking out against the killing of innocents for a long time now.
I have several problems with this and similar claims.
1 - Various apologists for Islam say that Islam is “against the killing of innocents” but they fail to mention that Islam holds many of the victims of “honor killings” to be guilty of sins that invoke the death penalty. So it would seem that such a claim falls into the “true lie” category. They tell non-Muslims that Islam is against “killing innocents” but to fellow Muslims they nod their heads when hearing of the “sins” of the dead woman.
2 - That
some apologists make this claim ignores the fact that others of the Islamic faith hold the opposite view. In fact, some Islamic clerics have issued fatwas in favor of such practices. Who is right?
3 - It seems to me that the whole issue of “honor killings” is generally perceived by Muslims as an attack on Islam. Furthermore, the issue has been largely raised by non-Muslims in Dar Al-Harb. As such, hasn’t the practice of taqiyya (sanctioned lying) been invoked? So how can I believe anything an Islamic apologist says on the matter?
4 - After 1,400 years of Islamic rule, the practice of “honor killings” not only continues in Islamic societies, it has been coded into Islamic jurisprudence. If Islam can’t abolish this horrendous practice when it has controlled the reigns for so many centuries, why should anyone expect Islam to fix it after another 1,400 years?
5 - Claims that the Qur’an “forbids the practice” have not been the reason that “honor killings” have been demonized. Rather, it has been Western horror and outside pressure that has nudged Islamic societies to begin to crack down on the practice.
6 - What constitutes “a long time now”? The links you provided don’t talk about “honor killings” per se. And the general sites have little or nothing to say on the matter. Haven’t such practices been a significant issue inside Islam only recently?
