Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Honor Killing: Difference between revisions

Honor killing is the murder by family members, usually of females, who are perceived to have brought shame on the family, and  as occured in many cultures. The motivating attitude is that the honor of the family in the community can be protected or restored in this way. Common triggers for honour killing occur when young couples have unmarried relations with each other, or when a woman marries someone against the wishes of her parents.  

In Islamic law, there is no punishment merely for the shame caused upon a family by their female relations, nor is there  a prescribed method to restore family honor by killing them. There are, however, punishments for various types of [[w:Zina|Zina]] (unlawful sexual relations) in Islamic law. Zina includes both fornication (when they are unmarried), for which the punishment is flogging, and adultery (when they are married, but not to each other), for which the punishment is death by stoning. These punishments are only to be applied by the authorities.

Some statements about women and the rules to control them, however, may contribute to the perceived social consequences of failing to exert such control and the underlying attitudes towards women and girls held by those who commit honor killing and honor violence. This includes such rules as those concerning parents and their children, a woman marrying without the approval of her wali, and zina, as detailed below. Cultural researchers and critics of the practice note that honor killing in the Muslim world is largely associated with certain countries like Pakistan and parts of the Middle East and North Africa rather than universally across all Islamic cultures. The problem has also been documented in a Hindu religious context in countries such as India and Nepal, particularly involving couples of differing castes.