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Leila Hussein is dead

Jill

leila
Leila Hussein, murdered in Iraq.

A mother who spoke out about the murder of her daughter — a murder committed by her husband — was gunned down last month.

Leila Hussein lived her last few weeks in terror. Moving constantly from safe house to safe house, she dared to stay no longer than four days at each. It was the price she was forced to pay after denouncing and divorcing her husband – the man she witnessed suffocate, stamp on, then stab their young daughter Rand in a brutal ‘honour’ killing for which he has shown no remorse.

Though she feared reprisals for speaking out, she really believed that she would soon be safe. Arrangements were well under way to smuggle her to the Jordanian capital, Amman. In fact, she was on her way to meet the person who would help her escape when a car drew up alongside her and two other women who were walking her to a taxi. Five bullets were fired: three of them hit Leila, 41. She died in hospital after futile attempts to save her.

After her daughter was killed, Leila was aided by a women’s rights organization in Basra — one of the only women’s rights groups in Iraq. They have since stopped their work because it’s too dangerous.

Leila’s husband is still a free man, despite publicly admitting to having murdered his own daughter. He claims the police even congratulated him.

Thanks to Mike for the link.

68 thoughts on Leila Hussein is dead

  1. This… made me cry. 🙁

    What can western feminists do in a situation like this? It is important just that as many people as possible know this is going on, or is there a more direct way we can build pressure or take action to stop this sort of abuse?

  2. My god. I just read about this on Jezebel and I’m trying not to cry. They have asked that readers who would like to give money to the NGO (they’re broke) should email them.

    Jezebel story

  3. I think gender violence such as honor killings are one of the most important feminist issues today. But, like Kelsey, I don’t know what to do about it.

  4. The nerve of that witch, acutally protesting her husband’s killing of their daughter over bullshit patriarchal objectification honor crap. Seriously, what did she think she was, a full human or something? (/snark, but only so I won’t cry over what happened to that brave, brave woman)

  5. I was going to put something up about this. I really don’t know what to say, though. I mean, what do you say? She was a very brave woman. This is deeply saddening not only because an innocent life has been taken, but also because of the reason behind the murder: to make sure that other women don’t think they can get away with speaking about injustice. And while I think that some women will join the cause or strengthen their convictions due to her murder, for many others the warning will be heeded. And who can blame them? I certainly can’t.

  8. Once her daughter was murdered and she courageously decided to leave her abusive, violent husband, Leila’s life was at very high risk. But still. . .

    Here are a couple ideas about what Westerners can do:

    1. Most of the countries where dishonor killings are indigenous have signed any number of international human rights agreements and covenants with us. For example, Jordan is in violation of 17 of them, and that is just on dishonor killings alone. We need to put pressure on our governments to ensure that these agreements with us are upheld. The U.N. is a huge disappointment in this respect.

    2. We can write to our representatives and leaders and demand that they withhold some meaningful portion (25% or more?) of our aid to these countries unless and until they materially, measurably, sustainably improve their human rights track records. And we cannot rely on self reporting. . .we need to have the right to go in and do our own investigations of the situations on the ground.

    3. Maybe it’s time we start economically boycotting countries that continue to treat their women like this and the companies that do business with them. We could do for women what the boycott of South Africa did for blacks when they were living under apartheid.

    4. Funding is a huge issue. There seems to be an overabundance of funds for people and organizations that haven’t gotten much in the way of results (typically, they are using the funds for international travel, conferences, seminars, overhead, and other line items that aren’t doing anything to help at-risk women like Leila), and almost zilch for those that are really striving to make a difference by offering support services, better information about the nature and scope of these crimes (good data is difficult to come by and, thus, decision making quality is less than optimal), shelters, safehouses, and even assistance with asylum. So this is a touchy issue. . .one that requires a lot of due diligence, not just do gooding.

    Ellen R. Sheeley, Author
    “Reclaiming Honor in Jordan”
    http://www.redroom.com/author/ellen-r-sheeley

  9. While I understand that the murder of the wife should be prosecuted, the daughter’s killing is justified in Islam which was their religion and while it may appear strange to westerners, they should not worry too much about it just as Muslim countries leave the strange Western practices alone. In Islam, it is forbidden for a woman to be alone with or talk unnecessarily to a man that is not related to her. The punishment prescribed by the Holy Quran can go from imprisonment until she repents upto death. We are not privy to what went between her father, who must have loved her, and her before her death and we should refrain from speculating.

  10. Uh, really Syed? Can you point to the part of the Quran where it sanctions honor killings?

    And, no, we don’t leave it alone when it involves systematic abuse, murder and serious human rights violations. You also seem to assume that everyone in “Muslim countries” is just fine with honor killings. The fact that such killings have been publicized by women and activists in their home countries should be a hint that women are trying to change the systems they live under, and that they dislike the way things are.

    Or do only men’s opinions matter here?

  11. the daughter’s killing is justified in Islam which was their religion and while it may appear strange to westerners, they should not worry too much about it just as Muslim countries leave the strange Western practices alone.

    I’m sorry, but that is complete horseshit! Honor killings was cultural practice that long predated the founding of Islam and does not exist universally in all Muslim societies or all practitioners.

    Several Asian Muslim friends have denounced this practice as one practiced mainly by certain Arabs and tribes residing in Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier Province.

  12. @Syed

    We are not privy to what went between her father, who must have loved her, and her before her death and we should refrain from speculating.

    Suffocating, stabbing and stomping to death is not love, that’s murder.

  13. “If any of your women are guilty of lewdness, Take the evidence of four (Reliable) witnesses from amongst you against them; and if they testify, confine them to houses until death do claim them, or Allah ordain for them some (other) way.” (Verse 4:15)

    Whether something predated Islam or not is completely irrelevant. Only that which is given in Quran matters as that is the unaltered will of Allah. The good practices were preserved, the bad ones (such as female infanticide) were thrown out.

  14. “If any of your women are guilty of lewdness, Take the evidence of four (Reliable) witnesses from amongst you against them; and if they testify, confine them to houses until death do claim them, or Allah ordain for them some (other) way.” (Verse 4:15)

    Thanks for proving my point. That’s an instruction for how “lewdness” should be dealt with in Islamic courts. I agree that the death penalty is ass-backwards, but nowhere does it say that an individual family member should slaughter them in an agent of vigilante “justice.” It specifically requires witnesses as means of proof.

    Of course, I think that judicial system is fucked. But what you quoted is not justification for these kinds of killings.

  15. Whether something predated Islam or not is completely irrelevant. Only that which is given in Quran matters as that is the unaltered will of Allah. The good practices were preserved, the bad ones (such as female infanticide) were thrown out.

    Actually, it does matter, because it proves that it’s not an “Islamic” practice. Unless anything sanctioned in the Quran is an inherently “Islamic practice”…?

  16. Lewdness includes unnecessarily talking to or being alone with non-mahram (unrelated) males. An Islamic court’s judgment would not be any different. The police approval confirms that.

  17. Since the Bible sanctions things like genocide and beating slaves to death, I don’t really have any trouble believing the Quran contains similar things. Christianity and Islam are from the same tradition, after all. You may choose to interpret it differently or pretend that your holy book doesn’t actually say those things. But the fact of the matter is that it’s trivially easy to come up with a better moral system than the ones thought up by some tribesmen 2000-3000 years ago.

    Furthermore, I think cultural relativism is bullshit. When somebody is stomped to death, I don’t need to speculate – that’s murder and the person who did it is a murderer. I don’t give a shit what messages you think your imaginary friend in the sky is beaming into your brain regarding what is moral, stomping a person to death is murder. This is why basing morality on religion is dangerous and stupid. You can make up what ever you want, say “Nuh-uh, god says I can!” and commit all kinds of atrocities.

    I’m sorry, was that angry? Well, I’m angry about this.

  18. Unless anything sanctioned in the Quran is an inherently “Islamic practice”…?

    I don’t know why you stuck ‘inherently’ in there. If its sanctioned, its Islamic, if its not, its not.

  19. I don’t know why you stuck ‘inherently’ in there. If its sanctioned, its Islamic, if its not, its not.

    I think you’re missing the point. The argument is that it’s kind of stupid to blame (or credit?) Islam itself for honor killings, since they existed before the religion did, and the religion doesn’t sanction them (even though it does sanction some of the things that lead to them, and killings in other circumstances). It’s like blaming Catholicism for alcoholism because drinking wine in some religious ceremonies is sanctioned.

    Now, I think it is fair to point out that religion does tend to be a tool that props up the kind of patriarchal mindset that justifies things like honor killings. But blaming the religion itself — or saying “It’s their religion to step out” — totally removes the individual responsibility. It ignores the fact that a whole lot of people from the oppressed group (here, women) interpret their religion to mean something very different — but their interpretations are ignored because their voices are deemed less important than men’s voices.

  20. Jill, this is the No true Scotsman fallacy. No true Muslim commits honor killings. Oh, OK.

    Anyway, It doesn’t matter what the Quran says. Do you think they’re going to stop because you can interpret that passage to mean something else or because somebody at some other point in time also did honor killings? No.

  21. I should add that I’m in no way saying that we should remove individual responsibility and blame only religion. But ignoring the influence religion has or that they’re using religion to justify this behavior should not be ignored.

  22. You can’t decry this and simulataneously advocate for abandoning the country to these kinds of policies. This is why we have to help reformers there establish institutions founded in laws that protect everyone, which can stop these kinds of things from happening and punish the killers.

    In the meantime, while it’s virtually lawless over there, her shitbag husband ought to make somebody’s list of things to do. Of course, that would be a human rights violation. But the point stands.

  23. “I don’t know why you stuck ‘inherently’ in there. If its sanctioned, its Islamic, if its not, its not.”

    Surely the apostrophe is sanctioned also.

  24. Jill, this is the No true Scotsman fallacy. No true Muslim commits honor killings. Oh, OK.

    Anyway, It doesn’t matter what the Quran says. Do you think they’re going to stop because you can interpret that passage to mean something else or because somebody at some other point in time also did honor killings? No.

    Totally not what I said.

    And I didn’t remove the culpability of religion. I just think it’s too easy to blame an amorphous, demonized religion as a way of obscuring the fact that religion is created and propped up by patriarchal assumptions and privileges. I think we should absolutely criticize the way that Islam is used as a tool to promote and justify these actions; I just don’t think that blaming Islam is sufficient, mostly because people will be able to find any excuse to do harm to women. It’s Islam this time around, but if not for Islam, it would be something else.

  25. Jill, this is the No true Scotsman fallacy. No true Muslim commits honor killings. Oh, OK.

    You’ve got it all backwards. Honor killings came before way before Islam was established…..not the other way around. More importantly, it is not a universalistic practice among all Muslims as several of my Asian Muslim friends would attest.

    If you’re going to make an argument, please read up on the history of the cultural practices or you’ll just underscore your ignorance.

    If one is going to attribute blame for something, blame the root of a given practice/issue…..not something that came about centuries afterwards. Not only is this more judicious…but it will also enable a better understanding of the issues at hand and hopefully, the effective means to resolve them.

    As for Syed, was going to say something…but Jill has already eloquently covered it.

  26. The argument is that it’s kind of stupid to blame (or credit?) Islam itself for honor killings, since they existed before the religion did, and the religion doesn’t sanction them (even though it does sanction some of the things that lead to them, and killings in other circumstances).

    There is no blame or credit here. It is just the way it is. There are consequences for actions. They may appear harsh but there is a reason they were ordained that way.

  27. There is no blame or credit here. It is just the way it is. There are consequences for actions. They may appear harsh but there is a reason they were ordained that way.

    Except you still haven’t shown where the Quran ordains that fathers should murder their daughters, without any judicial action, for the transgression of being friends with men.

  28. This whole story made me cry. I work with Muslim women here in England, and there doesn’t seem to be a problem with them talking to men in the course of their work. I cried when Rand was killed and feared for her mother then.

    In the name of Allah, most gracious, most merciful, I do not believe that this was about religion, I believe it was about power and shame and ignorance.

    I respect Islam, but I do not respect what people do in it’s name. I respect Christianity, but likewise atrocities are committed, and the religion is used as an excuse.

    Leila Hussein should be honoured for standing up, with integrity, for love and her family. Her husband, one day may realise his unholy error. I really hope he does.

    In the name of Allah most gracious, most merciful

    Most merciful. I can’t help thinking there’s a clue there…

  29. Because, Jill, it doesn’t. Certain Muslim (and non-Muslim) men just get off on dominating and terrorizing women. It’s socialization of the worst kind, and it’s made even more appalling when they think that it’s justified by pointing to Islam and insisting something that isn’t really there is sanctioned by the Quran.

    Shut up, Syed. You’re making us Muslims who believe that murder is WRONG and that it is un-Islamic and WRONG to murder someone, especially when there is no proof of any actual wrong-doing look like inhumane monsters. Don’t try to fall back on that “women shouldn’t talk to men they’re not related to” bullshit, unless you want to say that Khadijah deserved to be killed for her business dealings that led to her marriage with Prophet Mohammed (S).

    The Quran says many very conservative things, but it does NOT say that it’s ok for a father to suffocate his own daughter because he has an inflated sense of “honour.” And even if it did, this would STILL be unjustified, because he still had the option of exercising his own free will and going, “hey, I really love my kid, and she didn’t actually even do anything truly haram. She only talked to him because she was helping fellow Muslims in need! I’ll just scold her harshly and tell her not to talk to other white boys. I don’t trust them anyway.”

    Hearing men like you speak like your opinion is valid and of value puts an awful taste in my mouth. And it’s always men.

    And I can vouch for exholt’s assertion about Asian Muslims… My family considers the practice appalling, inhumane, un-Islamic, disgusting, and flat out WRONG, and we’re a fairly conservative Pakistani family from Punjab. Even our extremely conservative relatives who still live in a tiny village that survives off subsistence agriculture agree with us on this point.

    My father loves me. He would rather suffocate himself than suffocate me because he thought I’d somehow embarrassed him. This poor girl’s father only cared about HIMSELF. I doubt he even cares about his sons, really. They’re just an extension of him, a way to carry on his name and beliefs.

  30. And thank you, Jill, for being fair and recognizing how these people twist the nearest convenient belief system to suit their sick actions.

  31. I don’t know what to say to this, besides that I hope when that husband/father dies, he meets Rand and Leila at the gates to Paradise, and they’re the ones whose approval he has to get in order to get in.

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  36. I think mythago hit on something here. Is this an apologist, or is it a troll trying to make Muslims look bad? Even money these days.

  37. this is going to seem pedantic for non-muslims, but i needed to respond to syed because his argument is idiotic:

    While I understand that the murder of the wife should be prosecuted, the daughter’s killing is justified in Islam which was their religion and while it may appear strange to westerners, they should not worry too much about it just as Muslim countries leave the strange Western practices alone.

    “If any of your women are guilty of lewdness, Take the evidence of four (Reliable) witnesses from amongst you against them; and if they testify, confine them to houses until death do claim them, or Allah ordain for them some (other) way.” (Verse 4:15)

    first this verse by it’s very nature shows that honor killings, being extrajudicial by their nature are against islam. as you yourself have quoted, a person who has been accused of “lewdness” must have 4 witnesses that must prove this before a judge, and these witnesses as it’s described elsewhere must say the truth or else they themselves will be punished:

    “And those who launch a charge against chaste women, and produce not four witnesses (to support their allegations),- flog them with eighty stripes; and reject their evidence ever after: for such men are wicked transgressors. (24:4)”

    secondly, the punishment for fornification and adultery isn’t death, it’s flogging, and that is very clear in the quran as well as the hadith.

    and thirdly, that punishment is the same for both males and females, whereas honor killings punish women only.

    and with regards to this verse itself:

    this is actually in reference to homosexual acts, which is considered something less than than adultery (see verses 33:31, 7:29), and therefore there is no “hadd” (restriction/clearly defined) punishment for this, it’s “Ta’zir”, i.e. up to the local authorities, something that is outside of sharia. ta’zir is considered to include rehab or chastisement.

    people can argue about islam’s injunctions against homosexuality, but this verse had nothing to do with honor killings, and in fact, nowhere in the quran are honor killings allowed or sanctified.

    Whether something predated Islam or not is completely irrelevant. Only that which is given in Quran matters as that is the unaltered will of Allah. The good practices were preserved, the bad ones (such as female infanticide) were thrown out.

    you should know what the quran says before you quote from it. and in fact, you should know what verses are relevant to your argument, because right now, this verse looks like something you just randomly grabbed from the quran.

    and this just made you look like a fool.

  38. That wasn’t a verse, if it was one I would have provided a number for it.

    I admit this is not ideal, but lacking an Islamic justice system people are forced to take matters into their hands which is at least better than the ‘anything goes’ western system.

  39. That wasn’t a verse, if it was one I would have provided a number for it.

    don’t flatter yourself, i know your quote wasnt from the quran, i was still referring to your misuse of 4:15. you should’ve known that this was about homosexual acts and even that wasn’t calling for the death penalty, and even that required 4 witnesses who saw the same act. the verse had nothing to do with honor killings.

    I admit this is not ideal, but lacking an Islamic justice system people are forced to take matters into their hands which is at least better than the ‘anything goes’ western system.

    you “admit this is not ideal”?

    the quran clearly and unequivocally says that you are not allowed to do vigilante justice:

    “…take not life, which God hath made sacred, except by way of justice and law: thus doth He command you, that ye may learn wisdom.” 6:151

    you cant have it every which way.

    i want to dismiss you as someone who is pretending to be muslim, but i just came back from Umra in saudi arabia and i saw first hand how insane the wahabbis are, so now i dont know what to say about people like you. i dunno.

    you’re just nuts. all you wahhabis are just friggin insane.

  41. the word “fahisha” does not always mean adultery, it has been used in verse 33:31 as something dishonorable, and the same in 7:29. the verse also starts with “walati” which means “those women who” and everything following is in the feminine, which means that the two people who are committing the act are female.

    and most importantly you should look at the verse right after:

    If two men among you are guilty of lewdness, punish them both. If they repent and amend, leave them alone; for Allah is Oft-Returning, Most Merciful.

    but really this is a pedantic discussion that i’m sure bores non-muslims. the main issue is that your statement was blatantly false, and there is no injunction for honor killings and i urge you to start using your own logical reasoning skills. if something defies logic, chances are your misunderstanding what’s in the koran. that submission website btw, is wrong about so many things. i really wouldn’t bother with them.

  42. Oh look, an apologist troll! I’ve been wondering when you all would get one of these. The Muslim forums (especially the UK ones), are full of these little critters. Doesn’t really matter who they are, the message that they help spread is vile.

    Syed, you haven’t proven anything here. I honestly feel sorry for you. I live in Jordan, a Muslim country that has its share of honour killings, and even here people are beginning to crack down on this disgusting phenomenon.

    (140) Lost, indeed, are they who, in their weak-minded ignorance, slay their children and declare as forbidden that which God has provided for them as sustenance, falsely ascribing [such prohibitions] to God: they have gone astray and have not found the right path.

    I’m not on here to debate Islamic jurisprudence, but the quote above sums up the feelings of civilized Muslims rather well, I’ve found.

    Anyway, I vote for abolishing the term honour killing or honour crime. In my personal writing, I’m going to go ahead and refer to these as batsh*t killings.

  43. Nobody has commented on the fact that Basra was under British occupation until relatively recently and is now controlled by fundamentalist militia with the support of the UK and US governments. Money, weapons, uniforms, vehicles, communications equipment, medical aid etc are provided to gangs of men in return for their ‘support’. The official Iraqi government, including the Basra Police who congratulated the father for murdering his own daughter, also receive UK and US government support.

    OUR governments directly support these monsters – our tax money could well have provided the bullets and guns used to kill Leila ! I think the solution is obvious – do we live in a democracy or not ? do we have a dialogue with our governments? do we have a say on how our tax money is used ? It is OUR politicians we need to contact and say quite clearly that if they even so much as think about giving money to men like this we’ll go ballistic !

    Let’s ask Obama if he’d go and do it ? Go on let’s ask him ? or McCain ? Would he go and do what’s necessary ? Funny how these guys never want to ‘kick ass’ when it really matters…

  44. Sorry to be politically neutral I should have also added – Let’s see Bush go and ‘kick ass’ ! Oh sorry .. I forgot he’s already done that and celebrated his victory and triumph over the forces of Darkness !! It would be funny if the consequences for real people weren’t so so tragic.

  45. It may be worth pointing out that before Bush’s unprovoked invasion, Iraq was a relatively secular and woman-friendly country. Women participated in professions, walked around without covering every inch of their bodies, and told men to shut up if the men needed to be told to shut up. Saddam Hussein was a nasty evil dictator but Bush is proving even worse for Iraq, particularly Iraqi women.

  46. “Anything goes,” Syed? A man ruthlessly murdering his daughter for a perceived transgression against his “honor” and being congratulated by law enforcement sounds like the very definition of “anything goes” to me.

  47. They are people who do major suicide blasts over cartoons published in another continent. I don’t see why everyone is so eager to defend them here.

  48. Thanks, Natalia and Morningstar, for dealing with the troll. I appreciate your taking the time, and I love the chance to learn!

    Lisa, I think this is one of the real challenges a Democratic President will face, and I’m not sure there are any good answers. (McCain will just stay in no matter what, I’m convinced.) I really think the best thing we can do for Iraqi women in the short term is to leave.

  49. They are people who do major suicide blasts over cartoons published in another continent. I don’t see why everyone is so eager to defend them here.

    Who is “they”? Muslims? Christians blow up abortion clinics and kill doctors. Jews have assassinated people. But we recognize that the people who do those things are extremists, and not representative of the entire group. Why are we holding all Muslims accountable for the actions of a few?

  50. Who is “they”?

    I think maybe farhat meant extremists. As in, the type of Muslim who would blow up an embassy over a cartoon is the type who would murder his daughter because she spoke to a man.

  51. Farhat is a regular Islamophobic, conservative commenter, so I’m not going to give him the benefit of the doubt here. Plus, no one was defending extremists on this thread, so if that’s what he meant, it didn’t make any sense.

  52. I think that separating what is and isn’t Islamic only gets you so far; much of the Islamic world is still dominated by pre-Muslim practices that have been adapted and explained in Islam but are not based in the religion. Nonetheless, only when the West says something like “what you’re doing makes Muslims look like sub-human rot” do countries like Pakistan intervene in these tribal practices (see http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/06/27/news/pakistan.php).

    Now, Egypt has had an admirable anti-FGM campaign going, but the fact is that Muslim countries don’t do enough to police these customs, and we absolutely need to offer up criticism of their tolerance of something we find so deeply abhorrent, even if they can give half-hearted justifications for it. Even a good cultural relativist doesn’t need to respect horrific practices performed in the name of Islam, even if they are consistent with the faith. If you are Muslim, you have a moral responsibility to find a reinterpretation that does not make room for something that is absolutely, without any exception, wrong.

  53. prairielily – that was an amazing comment! I see Syed has ignored it. Probably because he can’t refute something that eloquent and full of truth.

  54. One more reason all patriarchial bullshit fairytales* need to be removed from places of honor in human society. If we keep on pretending any of this makes sense and deserves respect, women and gays and etc ad naseum will keep getting killed over it.

    This man’s fake god is a convenient scapegoat for his horrendous crimes, nothing more.

    – which is to say no just Islam, all of them.

  56. “I just think it’s too easy to blame an amorphous, demonized religion as a way of obscuring the fact that religion is created and propped up by patriarchal assumptions and privileges. I think we should absolutely criticize the way that Islam is used as a tool to promote and justify these actions; I just don’t think that blaming Islam is sufficient, mostly because people will be able to find any excuse to do harm to women. It’s Islam this time around, but if not for Islam, it would be something else.”

    Do you really believe this Jill?

    I respect the stuff you’ve written about Catholicism and condoms, birth control and abortion. But – if I understand it correctly – you seem to take a completely different view of the role of religion there. You don’t say men are just looking for any excuse not to wear condoms, so we should blame Catholicism for saying it’s a sin, because if it wasn’t Catholicism they’d just find another excuse. And you don’t say women who make the decision not to abort are just using Catholicism as a cover for their own preferences, so the lies they are told about ensoulment and when life begins don’t actually matter, you say some of them are actually influenced by Catholicism.

    I know you’re worried about Islamophobia, but I think you’re perhaps letting this cloud your judgement. If this guy is saying he murdered his daughter because she was unIslamic, then perhaps we should take him at his word. It’s easy for irreligious people like most of us here to assume that because our preferences aren’t influenced by religion, then neither are those of others, but I think the religious take religion more seriously and are actually influenced by it.

  57. James-

    I do worry about the way that religion is used as an organized structure to oppress and harm women. But the Catholic Church is decidedly different from Islam in the way that it has a centralized power structure that is inherently politicized. Islam doesn’t have a Pope; it doesn’t work the same way that Islam does. And of course I think there are a lot of things that are inherently problematic with Islam, just as I think there are a lot of things that are inherently problematic about Christianity and most other religions. But here, my point is that honor killings are not in the Quran. They are not proscribed by Islam. They are pre-Islamic practices that people use religion to justify. So yes, Islam is a problem, but it’s not as if there’s some Muslim Pope telling people, “Kill your daughters” the way that there is a Catholic Pope saying “Don’t use condoms.”

  58. Yea, that’s why when the Ayotollah gave the fatwa on Rushdie he was able to laugh it off because Islam doesn’t have a central authority.

  60. Natalia – some (e.g. family liaison officers) here in the UK have suggested that the term for this be changed to ‘control murders’. I think that it encapsulates it well.

  61. Jennifer-Ruth, thank you for the compliment! I’ve been feeling really scattered lately and like nothing I write makes sense, so I really appreciated it. Personally, I think that Morningstar’s comments have been very insightful and knowledgeable. I even learned a few things, and it gives me hope that people like us are gaining in strength and numbers, and that people like Syed are being seen as increasingly irrelevant. I don’t think this is something that can be changed through force… it has to be a true cultural shift to a more feminist, egalitarian society where “control murders” (thank you englishwoman!) are seen as the sickening and inhumane travesties that they are. (Feminism and equality seem like the answer to all life’s problems, don’t they?)

    I only wish the comments could have been made under different circumstances.

  62. If this guy is saying he murdered his daughter because she was unIslamic, then perhaps we should take him at his word.

    I am not going to take some idiot at his word, and I don’t recommend that you do this either. It’s like telling Zawahiri – “oh, the correct version of your religion is actually a death-cult that aims to bring destruction to the entire Middle East, erase all human rights, and turn millions of people into slaves? Right-o! Thanks for setting me straight, friend!”

    The people who stand to lose the most here are Muslims. Extremists might make a big show of going after “the infidel” and calling all non-Muslim women “ho’s,” but it’s the Muslims that will bear the brunt of their violence and stupidity.

    They will police the sister for smiling in public, the brother for listening to a pop record. They are the ones telling grandmothers that they are spreading sin if they get up and go to work, instead of staying at home, behind a stone wall. They are the ones who think it’s God’s will that women develop osteoporosis for hardly ever leaving the house, not getting enough vitamin D, and hey, getting depressed enough to kill themselves because they have no lives and cannot exist unless such an existence is done vicariously, through the lives of their male relatives.

    So when we say, “oh it’s just their funny little religion, too bad, too sad,” we are betraying them.

    This isn’t to say that anyone has the moral authority to “fix” a Muslim society from the outside in. But what we do have is the moral responsibility to stand in solidarity with people like Leila Hussein – who died a hero’s death, as far as I’m concerned.

  63. I have nothing to add except my fervent hope that the brutal, ignorant monster responsible for the deaths of his daughter and, by extension, his wife, is savagely beaten and kicked to death in this life and has his worthless stinking guts pulled out with a red hot corkscrew for all eternity in the next.

    As for Syed? Go and f-ck yourself, darling. Long and hard.

  64. Who is “they”? Muslims? Christians blow up abortion clinics and kill doctors. Jews have assassinated people. But we recognize that the people who do those things are extremists, and not representative of the entire group. Why are we holding all Muslims accountable for the actions of a few?

    I agree especially since the United States way of doing so as it calls it has included blowing people’s homes and invading and occupying their countries. Liberating women by killing them or starving them and their children through embargos.

    I don’t think Islam is the problem anymore than any other religion, it’s how it’s used by some of its practioners. After all, many women embrace Islam by choice and conviction. Is this then a problem?

  65. many women embrace Islam by choice and conviction.

    Many women accept Catholicism by choice and conviction. Doesn’t make it any less misogynistic.

  66. @Natalia

    This isn’t to say that anyone has the moral authority to “fix” a Muslim society from the outside in. But what we do have is the moral responsibility to stand in solidarity with people like Leila Hussein – who died a hero’s death, as far as I’m concerned.

    Hear, hear!

    That said, I do not believe that those who shy away from a wholesale condemnation of the big three major religions (Islam in this case) are apologists.

  67. many women embrace Islam by choice and conviction.

    Many women accept Catholicism by choice and conviction. Doesn’t make it any less misogynistic.

    @Farhat
    Good point. I think some Western progressives may be more comfortable recognizing the sexism in the different branches of Christianity because they know it from personal experience, either from being raised within the religion, or from the larger Christian-influenced society.

  68. Pingback: Daughter of the Ring of Fire » Blog Archive » This Is Liberation?

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